US stock futures slipped on Friday as the intensifying Iran conflict kept markets on edge ahead of an inflation reading key to Federal Reserve policy thinking.

Contracts on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (YM=F) and the S&P 500 (ES=F) both fell about 0.3%. Nasdaq 100 futures (NQ=F) led the way lower, down 0.5%, as stocks reversed small overnight gains.

The headlong sell-off on Wall Street looks set to ease, as investors take stock of latest developments in the Middle East conflict to assess how long and how wide the war will rage in the region. Israel launched fresh strikes on Tehran, while explosions in Dubai and sirens in Turkey signal potential attacks by Iran in a continued widening of hostilities. Meanwhile, the US is trying to rescue the crew of a military refueling plane that crashed in Iran.

The Iran war has driven a sharp rise in oil prices that has destabilized markets, sending the three major US stock benchmarks to their lowest closing levels of 2026 — and at their lowest points since November — on Thursday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) dropped over 700 points, closing below 47,000 for the first time this year.

In the latest effort to cool the oil rally, the US gave a second waiver allowing purchases of sanctioned Russian oil. But with Iran’s new leader vowing to keep the key Strait of Hormuz waterway closed, analysts said the move will ease but won’t fix what’s seen as the largest oil supply disruption in history.

The rally in oil prices slackened on Friday, rising less than 1%. West Texas Intermediate crude futures (CL=F) traded above $96 a barrel, while Brent crude futures (BZ=F) were near $101 after closing above the $100 mark for the first time since August 2022.

The spike in oil, combined with renewed inflation worries, has also shifted expectations around Federal Reserve policy. Traders have scaled back bets that the central bank will cut interest rates this year.

With major earnings for the week wrapped, attention turns to January’s Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index, the Fed’s preferred inflation measure, scheduled for release Friday morning. Investors will also get the first revision of Q4 US GDP growth, after the measure came in sharply under expectations in an initial reading. A first look at consumer confidence in March is also set for release.

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