Stock Market Live UpdatesPremarket Movers Point to Volatile Friday Session
U.S. stock futures are pointing to a sharply lower open on Friday, June 13, 2025, as escalating tensions between Israel and Iran rattle global markets and send oil prices surging. The geopolitical concerns are overshadowing yesterday’s positive session and cooler-than-expected inflation data that had previously buoyed investor sentiment.
As of 6:30 AM ET, futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average are down 412 points or 0.96%, S&P 500 futures have fallen 52.25 points or 0.86%, and Nasdaq futures are trading 1.10% lower.
Major Indexes Near Record Territory Despite Friday Pressure
Thursday’s session saw all three major stock market today indexes close in positive territory. The S&P 500 gained 0.3% to finish at 6,045.26, putting Wall Street’s most observed benchmark less than 2% away from its all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2% or 101.85 points to close at 42,967.62, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite finished at 19,662.48, advancing 0.2%.
The modest gains came as investors digested softer-than-expected inflation data and weighed the outcome of ongoing U.S.-China trade talks, providing a momentary reprieve from recent volatility in the markets today.
Oracle Leads AI Charge While GameStop Plummets
Among the most notable premarket movers, Oracle Corporation (ORCL) continues to build on yesterday’s impressive 13.31% surge that sent shares to a record $199.86. The company’s fiscal fourth-quarter results beat expectations on both top and bottom lines, with management forecasting cloud infrastructure revenue to rise by more than 70% in fiscal 2026, up from a 50% growth rate in the prior year.
“Oracle’s once-stodgy image levels up to ‘cloud-native mage,’ and the competitive map now looks less like a classic three-player real time strategy and more like a battle-royale with everyone dropping in, looking for compute loot,” said Michael Ashley Schulman, partner at Running Point Capital Advisors.
On the downside, GameStop Corp. (GME) shares plunged 22.45% to $22.14 in Thursday’s session, making it one of the worst performers in the market news today. The video game retailer continues to experience extreme volatility as retail traders and institutional investors battle over its valuation.
Other notable movers include Nvidia Corporation (NVDA), which gained 1.52% to $145.00 on Thursday, while Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) fell 2.18% to $118.50.
Economic Data Provides Mixed Signals
Thursday’s economic reports showed the Producer Price Index (PPI) increased just 0.1% in May, below the consensus estimate of 0.2%. Year over year, PPI increased 2.6% in May. Core PPI, which excludes volatile food and energy items, rose 0.2% for the month, also below expectations.
Initial jobless claims remained flat at 248,000 for the week ended June 7, slightly above the consensus estimate of 246,000. Continuing claims increased 54,000 to 1.956 million, reaching the highest level for insured unemployment since November 2021.
The softer inflation data has given the Federal Reserve some breathing room ahead of next week’s meeting, though stock market live participants will be closely watching Chair Jerome Powell’s tone, especially after former President Trump criticized him for not cutting rates, pushing for a 2-point reduction.
Geopolitical Tensions Driving Friday’s Action
The primary driver of Friday’s premarket weakness appears to be escalating Middle East tensions, as Israel has reportedly launched military strikes against Iran. This development has sent oil prices surging, with crude oil futures up nearly 7% in early trading.
“World stock markets tumbled on Friday and oil prices surged as Israel launched a military strike on Iran, sparking a rush into safe havens such as gold, dollar and Swiss franc,” according to Reuters.
Looking Ahead
As the trading day unfolds, investors will be closely monitoring developments in the Middle East while also positioning themselves ahead of next week’s Federal Reserve meeting. With markets having priced in multiple rate cuts for the second half of the year, Powell’s comments could trigger significant volatility.
For short and medium-term traders, keeping eyes on both rate expectations and geopolitical developments remains crucial, as either factor could trigger sudden market rotations in the days ahead.