Lower Futures, Rising Oil Prices Point To Weak Open On Wall Street

(RTTNews) - Notably lower futures and lingering concerns about the impact of the Middle East war point to a weak start for stocks on Wall Street on Friday. Rising crude oil futures may weigh as well on sentiment.

The Middle East war unleashed by U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran swelled outwards to Cyprus, Sri Lanka, Turkey and Azerbaijan, has raised concerns about the outlook for trade, prices and investment.

The United States has given India a waiver to buy Russian oil for 30 days as the Middle East conflict impacts global energy supply.

The Trump administration is considering emergency measures, including state insurance guarantees for tankers and naval escort to counter rising energy prices.

Also, the White House is reportedly discussing the possibility of a large-scale release of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) in coordination with IEA partners.

The Dow futures are down 0.6%, the S&P futures are lower by 0.66% and the Nasdaq futures are drifting down 0.89%.

The focus will be on U.S. non-farm payroll data for the month of February. The data from the Labor Department is due at 8:30 AM ET.

Stocks closed weak on Thursday, with the Dow slumping to its lowest closing level over two months.

The Dow tumbled 784.67 points or 1.6% to 47,954.74, the S&P 500 slid 38.79 points or 0.6% to 6,830.71 and the Nasdaq fell 58.50 points or 0.3% to 22,748.99.

In overseas trading, Asian markets ended mixed on Friday after Beijing's strategic commitment to deepen tech investment. After announcing a conservative 2026 GDP growth target of 4.5-5%, China pledged substantial investment in high-tech sectors, benefiting artificial intelligence, chipmakers, and biotech firms.

The major European markets are down after a positive start. The U.K.'s FTSE, Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 are down 0.7%, 0.8% and 0.9%, respectively. The pan European Stoxx 600 is down nearly 1%.

In commodities trading, West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures are up $5.49 or 6.78% at $86.50 a barrel. Gold futures are rising $21.00 or 0.43% at $5,099.70 an ounce.