Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures are currently pointing to a lower open on Friday, with stocks likely to see further downside after recovering from their worst levels but still ending the previous session modestly lower.
The downward momentum on Wall Street comes amid considerable volatility by the price of crude oil, which has been a key driver of trading in recent sessions.
Brent crude oil futures jumped above $111 a barrel earlier in the day but have pulled back sharply and are currently tumbling by nearly 2 percent.
The volatility in the oil markets comes as traders keep a close eye on developments in the Middle East war and the impact on energy supplies.
Crude oil prices initially surged amid news of new attacks on energy infrastructure in the region but gave back ground amid reports suggesting the U.S. is weighing lifting sanctions on some Iranian oil to increase supply and bring down prices.
The rollercoaster extends the volatility seen in the previous session, when oil prices soared to nearly $120 a barrel before pulling back sharply after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told reporters Israel would be helping the U.S. reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
However, the volatility shown by crude oil may lead some traders to refrain from making significant moves, with a lack of major U.S. economic data also likely to keep some traders on the sidelines.
After seeing notable weakness throughout much of the session, stocks regained some ground in the latter part of the trading day on Thursday. The major averages climbed well off their worst levels of the day but remained in negative territory.
The Nasdaq ended the day down 61.73 points or 0.3 percent at 22,090.69 but had slumped by as much as 1.4 percent to a six-month intraday low. The S&P 500 also fell 18.21 points or 0.3 percent to 6,606.49, while the Dow slid 203.72 points or 0.4 percent to 46,021.43.
Despite the late-day recovery attempt, the major averages still ended the day at their lowest closing levels in four months.
The early weakness on Wall Street came amid concerns about the escalation of the war in the Middle East following attacks on critical energy infrastructure across the region.
Israel bombed Iran’s South Pars natural gas fields and oil facilities in Asaluyeh, while an Iranian missile attack on Qatar’s Ras Laffan energy complex caused “extensive damage,” according to the country’s state-run energy firm.
President Donald Trump threatened in a post on Truth Social to “massively blow up the entirety of the South Pars Gas Field at an amount of strength and power that Iran has never seen or witnessed before” if there are further attacks on Qatar.
However, after soaring to nearly $120 a barrel following the latest attacks, Brent crude oil futures have pulled back sharply, contributing to the recovery attempt by stocks.
Oil futures came under pressure after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told reporters Israel would be helping the U.S. reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
In U.S. economic news, the Labor Department released a report showing an unexpected dip in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended March 14th.
The report said initial jobless claims fell to 205,000, a decrease of 8,000 from the previous week’s unrevised level of 213,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 215,000.
The Labor Department said the less volatile four-week moving average also edged down to 210,750, a decrease of 750 from the previous week’s revised average of 211,500.
Despite the pullback by the price of crude oil, oil service stocks continued to turn in a strong performance, driving the Philadelphia Oil Service Index (NASDAQI:OSX) up by 2.1 percent.
Natural gas stocks also saw considerable strength, with the NYSE Arca Natural Gas Index jumping by 2.1 percent, as the commodity has given back ground after an early surge but remains sharply higher.
Networking and computer hardware stocks also moved notably higher, while gold stocks plunged along with the price of the precious metal, dragging the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index down by 6.1 percent.