Early Friday, Iran rejected a U.S. ceasefire proposal mediated by Iraq amid escalating Middle East tensions, while President Trump unveiled sweeping new tariffs targeting roughly 60 trading partners with duties of 10% to 12.5%, citing alleged forced-labor practices. Brent crude surged past $100 per barrel for the first time since May, fueling inflation concerns ahead of next week's Federal Reserve meeting. U.S. stock futures traded mixed as of 4:00 a.m. ET: Nasdaq futures fell 0.1%, S&P 500 futures rose 0.1%, and Dow futures gained 0.3%. Retail sentiment on major index ETFs (SPY, QQQ) plunged to extremely bearish on Stocktwits.
Key stock movers included Intel gaining over 3% premarket on stronger-than-expected Q2 results and upbeat guidance, Oracle rising nearly 3% following a $7 billion U.S. Department of Defense contract, and Tesla rebounding slightly after dropping 14% on disappointing Q2 results. SpaceX plunged to 52-week lows as reports emerged that the company is freezing dedicated Falcon 9 launch bookings beyond 2028 to redirect resources toward Starship development.