US equity futures moderated declines early Friday as President Donald Trump weighs whether to back Israel militarily in its conflict with Iran. Contracts for the S&P 500 were down around 0.3% from Wednesday's close in early Asia hours, compared with a 0.9% drop on Thursday when US markets were closed for the Juneteenth holiday. While traders were offered some short-term clarity as the White House said Trump will decide within two weeks whether to strike Iran, the remarks did little to resolve broader uncertainty around potential US involvement and the risk of renewed energy-driven inflation. For more on what's ahead, we heard from Maria Rost Rublee, Professor of International Relations at the University of Melbourne. She speaks with Bloomberg's Shery Ahn and Haidi Stroud-Watts.
Markets were already on edge after the Federal Reserve downgraded its estimates for growth this year and projected higher inflation. As projected, Fed officials held rates steady at their policy meeting this week. We get some analysis from David Laut, Chief Investment Officer at Abound Financial.
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