(RTTNews) - Friday, investor sentiments are focused largely on the geopolitical situation in the Middle East, as the US and Iran widened strikes.
Geopolitical tensions dominated market sentiment on Friday after the US and Iran widened their military strikes across the Middle East.
In the Asian trading hours, the U.S. dollar held steady.
Oil prices traded higher, Brent crude futures were up 1.2 percent at $85.24 a barrel.
Gold prices edged up toward $4,000 an ounce. Spot gold rose half a percent to $3,998.01 per ounce.
As of 8.05 am ET, the Dow futures were down 306.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were fell 66.50 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were declining 539.00 points.
The U.S. major averages closed in negative territory on Thursday. The Nasdaq tumbled 387.28 points or 1.5 percent to 25,881.95, the S&P 500 slid 38.63 points or 0.5 percent to 7,533.77 and the Dow dipped 105.67 points or 0.2 percent to 52,552.97.
On the economic front, the Housing Starts and Permits for June will be released at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is 1.320 million, while it was up 1.177 million in the prior month.
The Import and Export Prices for June will be issued at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for a decline of 0.3 percent, while it was up 1.9 percent in the prior month.
The Industrial Production for June will be published at 9.15 am ET. The production consensus is 0.2 percent while it was up 0.1 percent in May. The consensus for manufacturing output is 0.2 percent, while it was at 0.0 percent in the prior month.
The Baker Hughes Rig Count for the week is scheduled at 1.00 pm ET. In the prior week, the North America rig count was 760, while the U.S. rig count was 581.
Asian stocks fell on Friday. China's Shanghai Composite index tumbled 3.05 percent to 3,764.15. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 1.78 percent to 24,562.24.
Japanese markets plummeted. The Nikkei average slumped 4.03 percent to 64,141.12 while the broader Topix index settled 2.72 percent lower at 3,919.21.
Australian markets ended lower. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 dropped half a percent to 8,796.70 while the broader All Ordinaries index shed 0.64 percent to close at 8,978.80.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
