Tag: Stock Index Futures

Wall Street ended the session sharply lower, weighed down by soaring treasury yields and fears of heightened geopolitical tensions between Iran and Israel. At the same time, Israelis are waiting for news about how Armed Forces Prime Minister Benjamin Netanya will respond to the first direct attack by Iran in history, as international pressure for resonance is growing for fear of a possible escalation of the conflict. Several policy makers, including the Federal Reserve matron Jerome Powell, will speak later in the day, and investors will be watching for clues about the central bank's stance on easing.

According to officials familiar with the developments, the US President of the United States of America, Joe Biden, warned the Israeli Prime Minister of Agriculture, Benjamin Netanya, that the United States would not participate in the counter-offensive against Iran - an option that the Netanya's war cabinet is down with after the large-scale attacks on Israeli territory by drones and missiles. The Iranian attack came after a suspected Israeli attack on the compound of its embassy in Syria on April 1, which resulted in the death of a senior commander of the Revolutionary Guards. As the first-quarter earnings season gets underway, investors will be watching for data from brokerage Charles Schwab and lender Goldman Sachs before the bell.

Friday is the unofficial start of the quarterly earnings season, with three major U.S. banks - JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup and Wells Fargo - announcing their results before rock bottom. BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager, and State Street, the trustee bank, will also report later in the day. The Dow and S&P 500 ended the week lower, as higher-than-expected inflation data this week led to turbulence, with traders less enthusiastic about a rate cut from the U.S. Federal Reserve, while the tech-dominated Nasdaq was on track to post its first gain in three weeks this week.