North American Morning Briefing: Futures Point to Lower Open as Iran War Weighs

U.S. futures pointed to a lower open Friday as investors weighed higher

energy prices and the prospect of renewed fighting in the Middle East.

Oil prices rose as Iran warned it would target American bases and civilian infrastructure in the Persian Gulf if the U.S. and Israel resumed bombing the country.

The warning came as the U.S. is moving a third aircraft carrier strike group to the Middle East, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Brent crude consequentially traded at a level not seen since early May, and European natural gas prices spiked to their highest level since the end of 2022.

After Thursday's session was marked by a selloff of artificial-intelligence stocks and the Nasdaq logged its worst session since June, the tech-heavy index was largely steady ahead of the opening bell.

Though the selloff appeared paused Friday, jitters remained and SK Hynix, the world's second-largest memory chip maker, halted plans to list its memory-chip unit in the U.S. citing market conditions and broader share-price trends.

The Dow and S&P 500, meanwhile, were in negative territory premarket.

Stocks to Watch

Moderna shars fell 4% after details from a closely guarded cancer-vaccine study were shared on social media.

SpaceX was gaining 2% after Bloomberg reported the company is looking to secure at least 80,000 cell sites across the U.S. AT&T and Verizon fell by 3%, respectively.

Western Digital was down 1% after the company reported earnings.

Micron Technology and CoreWeave rose 2%, respectively, and Intel gained 1% as AI-related stocks recovered cautiously from yesterday's session.

Watch For:

University of Michigan Final Consumer Survey for October

Third quarter earnings from American Express

Today's Top Headlines/Must Reads:

- The Signal Chats That Cost OpenAI Researchers Their Jobs

- Is America Still Afraid of Socialism?

- Eight Charts That Show the Depth of France's Financial Crunch

MARKET WRAPS Forex:

The dollar recovered after reaching a three-week low against a basket of currencies on Thursday. Higher oil prices support the dollar as the U.S. is a net oil exporter while the currency tends to act as a safe haven.

Sterling fell against the dollar but was little moved after worse-than-expected U.K. retail sales data. The currency gained against the euro, however, after a stronger-than-expected flash U.K. purchasing managers' index survey for October.

The euro fell further against the dollar after the flash October eurozone purchasing managers' index survey fell short of estimates. Bonds:

Treasuries were the beneficiaries of investors seeking to put distance between themselves and the turmoil in French government bonds. The 10-year Treasury yield rose but remained under 5%.

Energy:

Oil prices were on track for a weekly gain after climbing to a five-month high over fears that the U.S. could attack Iran after the midterm elections in early November.

Natural Gas

European natural-gas prices climbed to their highest since late 2022 as mounting U.S.-Iran war risks raised fears of winter LNG supply disruptions.

Metals:

Gold was headed for a weekly loss as elevated energy prices fueled concerns over inflation and interest-rate hikes.

"A rising inflation backdrop along with selling pressure to cover losses in equity or bond market positions is a negative combination for gold in the short-term even as the Fed is looking assured to keep rates unchanged at next week's FOMC meeting," MUFG said.

TODAY'S TOP HEADLINES

Shares in Gucci-Parent Kering Plunge as Hoped-For Recovery Keeps Receding

Shares in French luxury-fashion group Kering dropped sharply after a continued slide in sales at its biggest brand Gucci raised further doubts over the prospects for the group's recovery.

Group sales fell 1% on year between July and September on a comparable basis to 3.345 billion euros ($3.75 billion), Kering said late Thursday. The total was dragged down by a 6% drop in sales at Gucci, a storied Italian fashion brand that makes up not far from half of group revenue. Gucci has struggled with falling sales in recent years, driven by cooling brand heat and a squeeze on the wallets of the more aspirational fashion customers key to the house's growth, especially in China.

Volvo Car Shares Slump After Automaker Adds Job Cuts to Tackle Mounting Headwinds

STOCKHOLM-Shares in Volvo Car plunged after the automaker said it would cut another 2,500 jobs, or around 6% of its workforce, under an expanded turnaround plan that targets $500 million in savings to counter mounting market headwinds.

Stockholm-listed shares were down 26% in early trading.

Eni Shareholders Set for Cash Boost After Earnings Double

Eni kicked off earnings season for the energy majors with an extraordinary dividend and buyback hike after volume growth, higher prices and exceptional refining margins provided a cash windfall that the Italian company could return to shareholders.

The oil and gas company said Friday that it would pay a one-off dividend of 1.3 billion euros ($1.46 billion) in December, and plans to buy back 3.8 billion euros of shares by the end of 2026.

Eurozone Consumer Inflation Expectations Edged Higher in September

Inflation expectations among households in the eurozone crept higher in September, after energy prices continued to rise as the war in the Middle East dragged on.

Consumers say they expect prices to rise by 3.1% over the next 12 months, up from 3.0% in August, according to a European Central Bank survey published Friday of around 19,000 adults from 11 eurozone members.

French Contraction Has Slowed Eurozone Expansion, Surveys Show

Business activity in the eurozone slowed in October amid a squeeze on profit margins, according to surveys of purchasing managers released Friday, a sign of fading resilience in the face of the higher energy costs that have accompanied the war between the U.S. and Iran.

The surveys recorded a decline in activity in France, where prices of government bonds have tumbled over recent weeks, raising the cost of borrowing for households and businesses, while often violent protests have disrupted service providers in a number of cities and towns.

U.S. Treasury Wants to Rein In Deals for Chinese Biotech and AI

The U.S. Treasury Department late Thursday proposed bans on American investment in Chinese biotech, artificial intelligence, and advanced memory chips. If adopted, the restrictions could cut off a main source of new drugs for the pharmaceutical industry.

The proposal would expand a current program that bans U.S. investments in Chinese AI, advanced processor chips, and quantum computing, which Treasury rolled out in January 2025. Treasury's new proposal would also extend investment bans on the sensitive technologies to ventures in Iran, Cuba, and Russia.

Trump Called Musk and Asked Him to Lift Ukraine Starlink Restrictions

WASHINGTON-President Trump called Elon Musk on Wednesday and asked him to lift restrictions on a military-grade version of Starlink in Ukraine that the SpaceX chief had throttled, U.S. officials said.

The system was working more normally Thursday, shortly after their conversation, U.S. and Ukrainian officials said. Some Ukrainian officials said the system wasn't restored to full functionality but was working at higher speeds than under the cap.

China's Most Controversial Region Has Become a Showcase for Its Commercial Ambitions

KASHGAR, China-Four years ago, the United Nations human-rights agency said China's abuses in its far western Xinjiang region were so severe that they potentially amounted to "crimes against humanity."

The U.S. sharply limited imports from the region and blacklisted dozens of Chinese companies over growing evidence that ethnic Uyghurs were being arbitrarily detained and used in forced labor.

U.A.E. Diplomat Jolts Deadlocked U.N. Leadership Race

A late entry by a seasoned Emirati diplomat in the race to be the next secretary-general of the United Nations has shaken up a fraught process in which none of the other candidates has emerged as a clear favorite.

The United Arab Emirates this week formally nominated its former deputy foreign minister, Lana Zaki Nusseibeh, an eye-catching submission designed to capitalize the Middle Eastern nation's efforts to establish itself as a trusted global mediator.

El Salvador Sends Troops to Haiti to Rescue Military Personnel After Gang Ambush

Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele sent 200 special operations soldiers to strife-torn Haiti to rescue four military personnel after gangs attacked their armored vehicle earlier this week.

The whereabouts of the Salvadoran team of aviation technicians who were part of the United Nations-authorized Gang Suppression Force remain unknown. While security experts fear they might have been killed, Salvadoran and U.S. officials believe all four survived the attack.

Write to pierre.bertrand@wsj.com

TODAY IN CANADA 3Q Earnings:

Rogers Communications

Economic Indicators (ET):

0830 Retail trade data for August

Stocks to Watch:

Trump on Truth Social: Bombardier Investing $270M, Creating Thousands of Jobs in Kansas, Texas, Indiana

MindWalk Holdings Chief Business Officer Thomas Lynch Leaves Company

Expected Major Events for Friday 00:30/JPN: Oct Japan Flash Manufacturing PMI

05:00/JPN: Sep Supermarket sales

05:30/JPN: Sep Tokyo area department store sales

05:30/JPN: Sep Nationwide department store sales

06:00/UK: Sep Retail sales

07:15/FRA: Oct France Flash PMI

07:30/GER: Oct Germany Flash PMI

08:30/UK: Oct Flash UK PMI

12:30/CAN: Aug Retail trade

13:45/US: Oct US Flash Manufacturing PMI

13:45/US: Oct US Flash Services PMI

14:00/US: Oct University of Michigan Survey of Consumers - final

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October 23, 2026 06:15 ET (10:15 GMT)

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