The benchmark US stock measures were trending higher before the open Friday as investors assess Washington's new phase of global tariffs and the latest developments in the Middle East.
The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq gained 0.2% each in premarket activity, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.5%. The indexes ended the previous trading session lower, with the Nasdaq and S&P 500 recording their biggest one-day declines since June 23.
In a fact sheet published on Thursday, the Office of the US Trade Representative announced new tariffs of 10% or 12.5% on 60 economies that it said have failed to prohibit or effectively enforce bans on imports made with forced labor, including China, India, the UK and the European Union.
The duties took effect at 12:01 a.m. ET Friday, replacing President Donald Trump's temporary 10% global tariffs, which expired at the same time, CNBC reported.
Earlier this week, Trump signed three proclamations to impose 50% tariffs on the imports of motor vehicles, alcohol and dairy products from Canada.
West Texas Intermediate crude oil dropped 3.5% to $88.99 a barrel before the opening bell, while Brent fell 3.6% to $97.13.
Trump told Axios on Thursday that he is seriously considering restarting major combat operations against Iran. The US Central Command said it completed its 13th consecutive night of strikes against Tehran on Thursday.
The Iran-backed Houthi militants in Yemen recently claimed attacks on two Saudi Arabian oil tankers in the Red Sea, sparking concerns over a potential closure of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, an alternate shipping route to the Strait of Hormuz.
In a social media post, Trump said the US will hold Iran responsible and threatened "major military punishment" if its Houthi proxies continued to attack commercial ships.
Treasury yields were down in premarket action, with the two-year rate retreating 3.4 basis points to 4.33% and the 10-year rate off 2 basis points to 4.68%.
"Rising oil prices have revived talk of a (Federal Reserve) rate hike, with rates markets now beginning to treat next week's (Federal Open Market Committee) meeting as a live decision after the 10-year yield pushed back toward its year-to-date high," Saxo Bank said in a report Thursday.
The probability that the Fed will leave its benchmark lending rate unchanged next week stood at 71% on Friday, up from 66% the day before, according to the CME FedWatch tool. The odds of a quarter-percentage-point increase moved down to 29% from 34%.
Shares of Intel (INTC) advanced 5.3% pre-bell after the chipmaker reported second-quarter results ahead of Wall Street's estimates. Oracle (ORCL) inclined 2.6% as the cloud computing giant secured a 10-year enterprise software contract worth nearly $7 billion with the US Department of War.
American Express (AXP), Verizon Communications (VZ), HCA Healthcare (HCA), SLB (SLB), Charter Communications (CHTR), Booz Allen Hamilton (BAH) and Lamb Weston (LW) report their latest financial results before the bell, among others.
Friday's economic calendar has the S&P Global's (SPGI) flash purchasing managers' index for July at 9:45 am ET, followed by the new home sales report for June at 10 am. The weekly Baker Hughes oil-and-gas rig count is out at 1 pm.
Gold nudged up 0.3% to $4,061 per troy ounce, while bitcoin increased 0.2% to $64,949.
