US pre-open: Stocks look set decline as White House blames Iran for tanker attacks

Wall Street futures were pointing to losses ahead of the weekend as investors reacted to economic data out of China and tensions between the US and Iran following an attack on two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman a day earlier.

As of 1200 BST, Dow Jones futures were calling the index to open 0.26% lower, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 were on track to start the session down 0.35% and 0.85%, respectively.

Stocks closed higher on Thursday after Donald Trump declined to set a deadline on slapping tariffs on a further $325bn-worth of Chinese imports and energy stocks rallied on the back of two oil tankers being damaged in suspected attacks off the coast of Iran.

However, things looked set to about-face on Friday as market participants turned their attention to geopolitical events.

The White House firmly placed the blame on Iran for Thursday's attacks, with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo stating that Tehran wanted its "successful maximum pressure campaign" lifted.

Iran took aim at Washington later in the day, denying Pompeo's claims when the Middle Eastern nation's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted that the US "immediately jumped to make allegations against Iran—/wo a shred of factual or circumstantial evidence".

The attacks gave oil prices a boost in the previous session, but with tensions running higher Brent crude was down 0.20% to $61.19 a barrel on Friday, while West Texas Intermediate was 0.36% weaker at $52.09.

Also weighing on sentiment was news that China's industrial output growth had slowed to a 17-year low of 5% last month, falling well shy of expectations - yet another indicator of weakening demand in the world's second-largest economy according to analysts.

Ahead of the open, SpreadEx analyst Connor Campbell said: "A further testing of the already strained relationship between the US and Iran, and another round of data disappointments from China, set the scene for a slow and sour start to Friday."

On the data front, retail sales for May were due at 1330 BST, while industrial production data and the University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index for June were set to follow at 1415 BST and 1500 BST, respectively.

In terms of corporate news, Elite Pharmaceuticals, hotdog maker Nathan's Famous and conferencing service Zoom Video will post results.

Broadcom slumped 8.72% in pre-market trading after the group's earnings report suggested a second-half rebound for chips looked less likely.