U.S. stock index futures dropped on Friday after Israel's military strike on Iran escalated tensions in the oil-rich Middle East and battered risk sentiment across global markets.

Israel's widescale strikes against Iran's nuclear facilities were aimed at preventing Tehran from building an atomic weapon. Iran has promised a harsh response and retaliated by launching 100 drones.

Market Snapshot

At 8:38 a.m. ET, Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 391 points, or 0.9%. S&P 500 futures dropped roughly 0.8%, while Nasdaq 100 futures lost 1.1%. SharpLink Gaming fell 67%.

Pre-Market Movers

Oil stocks — Energy stocks climbed in premarket trading amid a jump in oil prices after Israel launched airstrikes against Iran without U.S. support, drawing concerns over the supply outlook from the oil-rich Persian Gulf. Chevron rallied nearly 3%, while ConocoPhillips gained 5%. EOG Resources jumped 4%.

Gold stocks — Stocks tied to gold advanced as investors flocked to the perceived safe haven amid the geopolitical escalation. Newmont Mining and SSR Mining Inc both rose more than 1%, as did the VanEck Gold Miners ETF.

Defense stocks — Weapons manufacturers rose amid elevated geopolitical risk following Israel’s attack on Iran. RTX Corp and Northrop Grumman both surged more than 4%, Lockheed Martin gained 3% and L3Harris Technologies, Inc. added 3%.

Cruise lines and airlines — Travel companies slid as investors worried that heightened risk would deter vacationers and spikes in oil prices would hurt profit. Carnival fell more than 5%, Norwegian Cruise Line and Royal Caribbean Cruises dropped 4% each. United Continental weakened more than 5% while Delta Air Lines and American Airlines each declined 5%. Southwest Airlines shed more than 3%.

Volatility ETFs rose in premarket trading on Friday. ProShares Ultra VIX Short-Term Futures ETF up 7%; 2X Long VIX Futures ETF up 10%.

Big tech stocks sank in premarket trading on Friday. AMD, Micron, TSMC, Alphabet fell 2%; Tesla, Nvidia fell 1.4%.

Hotel stocks — Hotel and resort stocks declined as traders weighed the outlook for diminished travel demand following Israel’s strike on Iran. Hilton and InterContinental Hotels Group PLC slipped more than 2% apiece, while Marriott pulled back nearly 2%.

RH — The home furnishings retailer jumped 20% after posting a surprise adjusted profit in its fiscal first-quarter. RH earned an adjusted 13 cents per share, while analysts surveyed by LSEG expected a loss of 9 cents per share. Net income of $8 million reversed a year-earlier loss of $3.6 million, but revenue trailed Street estimates. RH shares were down more than 50% year to date ahead of the report.

DraftKings Inc. — Shares of the sports betting app lost nearly 1% after imposing a 50-cent transaction fee in Illinois starting in September after state lawmakers passed a budget including what one analyst described as a surprise increase in an online gambling tax.

Adobe — Shares fell 4% after the graphic design software company posted better-than-expected second-quarter earnings. StreetAccount cited concern over a “slight deceleration in Subscription and cRPO growth rates [and] implied Q4 growth outlook.” In the latest quarter, Adobe earned an adjusted $5.06 per share on $5.87 billion in revenue, above the $4.96 per share and $5.79 billion in revenue analysts surveyed by LSEG were expecting. Adobe also lifted its full-year guidance.

GE Vernova Inc. — The turbine manufacturer slipped 2% on the heels of a downgrade to peer perform from outperform at Wolfe Research. Analyst Nigel Coe cited concern over GE Vernova’s “challenging valuation” after a more than 48% gain for the stock in 2025.

Market News

Iran Pulls Out of Nuclear Talks with the US Planned for Sunday

Iran International reports on Friday that the sixth round of talks with the United States (US) will not be held following the Israeli attacks, citing senior Iranian lawmaker Aladdin Boroujerdi, a member of parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission.

Trump Urges Iran to Take “Second Chance” at Nuclear Deal After Israel Strikes

U.S. President Donald Trump, in post on the Truth Social platform, urged Iran to close a nuclear deal in his first public statement following Israel’s attack on the country.

Israel launched an attack on Iran, targeting dozens of sites, including nuclear facilities. Its Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the attack would take “many days.” Iran confirmed that one of the targets, the Natanz nuclear facility, sustained damage.

Trump, meanwhile, claimed that Israel has “a lot” of US military equipment and “they know how to use it.”

“It will only get worse! There has already been great death and destruction, but there is still time to make this slaughter, with the next already planned attacks being even more brutal, come to an end. Iran must make a deal, before there is nothing left,” Trump said in his post.

Nvidia Teams with Deutsche Telekom to Increase Sovereign AI in Germany

NVIDIA said on Friday that it has teamed up with Deutsche Telekom to bring sovereign artificial intelligence to Germany, as it looks to build an AI industrial cloud for European manufacturing companies.

Nvidia shares fell 1.5% in premarket trading.

Walmart and Amazon Explore Issuing Stablecoins - Report

Some of the U.S.'s largest retailers are exploring uses for stablecoins and possibly issuing their own tokens, a move that could transform their payment systems, reducing their reliance on banks and lowering fees, according to a media report on Friday.

Wal-Mart, Amazon.com, and Expedia have explored issuing their own stablecoins in the U.S., the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Stablecoins are digital tokens designed to be pegged one-for-one to an actual asset, such as a fiat currency, most often the U.S. dollar.

AMD Turns to AI Startups to Inform Chip, Software Design

Advanced Micro Devices has forged close ties to a batch of artificial intelligence startups as part of the company's effort to bolster its software and forge superior chip designs.

As AI companies seek alternatives to Nvidia's chips, AMD has begun to expand its plans to build a viable competing line of hardware, acquiring companies such as server maker ZT Systems in its quest to achieve that goal.