(Corrects to say indexes in headline, not futures)
By Purvi Agarwal and Twesha Dikshit
March 27 (Reuters) – Wall Street’s main indexes were on track to open lower on Friday as the month-long Middle East conflict dragged on, weighing on sentiment despite the United States pushing back another deadline to strike Iran’s energy infrastructure.
President Donald Trump said on Thursday he would again extend a deadline asking Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face the destruction of its energy plants, after Tehran earlier rejected a 15-point U.S. proposal to end the fighting.
The delay, however, did little to calm markets, and oil prices rose again as investors remained skeptical about the two sides arriving at an agreement.
“Financial markets remain headline-driven. Investors are being buffeted by U.S. claims that progress is being made to end hostilities, while Iran denies that any serious negotiations are taking place,” said David Morrison, senior market analyst at Trade Nation.
“It seems obvious that neither side is close to accepting the other’s conditions for peace so for now, the war continues.”
The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq stayed on track for their fifth week of losses. The Dow was set for weekly gains.
On Thursday, the S&P 500 and the Dow closed over 1% lower each, while the Nasdaq ended more than 10% lower from its record close, confirming it had been in correction territory.
The Russell 2000, the first on the correction path, confirmed it last Friday.
“The speed of the market’s declines in recent weeks and the fact that most of this fear has been driven by a single narrative, geopolitical tensions, suggests that the market is in the midst of a correction, and not a bear market,” said Glen Smith, chief investment officer, GDS Wealth Management
At 08:35 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis lost 196 points, or 0.42%, S&P 500 E-minis were down 30.25 points, or 0.46%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis fell 165.25 points, or 0.69%.
The spike in oil prices as a result of the Iran war has brought inflation fears to the forefront, complicating the future rate-cut path for central banks.
Money market participants are not pricing in any easing from the U.S. Federal Reserve this year, compared with two cuts anticipated before the conflict broke out, according to CME’s FedWatch Group.
Investors will look out for the final reading of the University of Michigan’s sentiment survey for March and examine commentary from regional Fed Presidents Thomas Barkin, Mary Daly and Anna Paulson.
In individual movers, Unity Software’s shares jumped about 14% in premarket trading after the maker of videogame software reported first-quarter preliminary revenue above analysts’ estimates.
(Reporting by Purvi Agarwal and Twesha Dikshit in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty and Pooja Desai)
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