(RTTNews) - Following the sell-off seen in the previous session, stocks are likely to see further downside in early trading on Friday. The major index futures are currently pointing to a lower open for the markets, with the S&P 500 futures down by 0.5 percent.
A continued surge by the price of crude oil is likely to weigh on Wall Street, as international benchmark Brent crude futures have jumped back above $110 a barrel after soaring by more than 5 percent during Thursday's trading.
The extended spike by crude oil prices comes even though President Donald Trump extended the pause on attacking Iran's energy plants by 10 days to April 6th.
Trump claimed in a post on Truth Social that negotiations with Iran are "going very well," although Iranian state media has said Tehran "responded negatively" to a U.S. peace proposal.
"Comments from Washington and Tehran about a potential peace process seem to come from parallel worlds, with the former indicating talks are going well while the latter effectively denies talks are even happening," said AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould.
"For now, fighting continues and the path out of the current crisis remains unclear," he added. "Oil prices, probably the best indicator, remain elevated and have reached $110 per barrel again."
Mould noted that the longer crude oil prices remain at elevated levels the greater the fear of inflationary pressures returning in a meaningful way.
After coming under pressure early in the session, stocks saw even further downside over the course of the trading day on Thursday, ending the day sharply lower. With the steep losses, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 dropped to their lowest closing levels since early last September.
The major averages ended the day just off their lows of the session. The Nasdaq plunged 521.74 points or 2.4 percent to 21,408.08, the S&P 500 tumbled 114.74 points or 1.7 percent to 6,477.16 and the Dow slumped 469.38 points or 1 percent to 45,960.11.
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance on Friday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index fell by 0.4 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index climbed by 0.6 percent.
Meanwhile, the major European markets have all moved to the downside on the day. While the German DAX index is down by 1.4 percent, the French CAC 40 Index is down by 0.8 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is down by 0.4 percent.
In commodities trading, crude oil futures are surging $2.42 to $96.90 a barrel after spiking $4.16 to $94.48 a barrel on Thursday. Meanwhile, after plunging $176 to $4,376.30 ounce in the previous session, gold futures are jumping $44.40 to $4,420.70 an ounce.
On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 159.81 yen versus the 159.80 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Thursday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.1517 compared to yesterday's $1.1526.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
