S&P 500 futures recover from overnight losses and are little changed following Israel

Crude oil futures are now trading lower, erasing gains of more than 3% from earlier in session as it becomes clear that Israel’s strike against Iran was limited.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures lost 28 cents, or 0.34%, at $82.45 per barrel. Global benchmark Brent crude futures fell 49 cents, or 0.56%, at $86.62 per barrel after topping $90 earlier in the session.

“The energy market has been through this before,” said John Kilduff, founding partner at Again Capital. “It’s hard to get your head around the fact anymore how high the bar really is in the Middle East these days for all out war to break out and for oil supplies to be impacted.”

That point is driven home by the price action. Despite the news, WTI is on pace to end the week about 4% lower.

The Israeli strike was “very muted and carefully calibrated” using small packages of explosions and drones rather than manned aircraft, said Admiral James Stavridis, the former Supreme Allied Commander of NATO.

“Both capitals, Jerusalem and Tehran, are downplaying the events — de-escalating,” Stavridis told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Friday.

— Spencer Kimball

The three major indexes were on track for notable losses with just one day left in the trading week.

The S&P 500 has fallen for five sessions in a row, a first since October. On the week, the broad index has slid 2.2%.

That would be the large-cap benchmark’s third straight negative week, which hasn’t happened since September. It would also mark its worst weekly performance since late October.

The Nasdaq Composite is slated to drop 3.6%, which would mark the biggest loss since September. It would also be the fourth straight negative week, the longest weekly losing streak since December 2022.

The tech-heavy index has also declined for the past five sessions, a first going back to a period ending in January.

The Dow has seen far more modest losses, sliding just about 0.6% this week. This would be the blue-chip average’s third-straight down week.

— Alex Harring

The Cboe Volatility Index briefly spiked back above 19 Friday morning following reports of Israel’s strike against Iran.

Wall Street’s so-called fear gauge, known as the VIX, had previously reached the level earlier this week. That came in the aftermath of Iran launching drones and missiles at Israel on Saturday.

But the weekend attack was largely thwarted by Israel’s defense system. Traders have since been watching Israel’s response for any signs of further escalation in the Middle East conflict.

After surpassing 19 earlier in the morning, the Chicago Board Options Exchange’s index last sat below the level.

— Alex Harring

Shares of Asian shipping firms rallied after news that Israel carried out an operation in Iran, with explosions reportedly heard near the airport in Isfahan.

Japanese shippers Mitsui Osk Lines climbed 1.81%, while Kawasaki Kisen and Nippon Yusen were up 0.34% and 1.44%.

Hong Kong shipping firms also climbed, with Pacific Basin spiking 8.68%. Cosco Shipping Holdings was up over 4%, and international logistics firm OOIL, which owns Orient Overseas Container Line, climbed 4.5%.

Safe haven assets rose following reports of unconfirmed explosions in Iran, with the country’s Fars news agency reportedly saying that explosions were heard near the airport at the country’s central Isfahan city, but the reason was unknown.

Spot gold prices surged to a fresh all-time high of 2,411.09 per ounce, while the yen strengthened 0.45% to 153.93 against the U.S. dollar.

Prices of bitcoin fell 1.44% to $60,186, according to Coin Metrics data.

— Lim Hui Jie

Oil prices jumped more than 3% after unconfirmed reports of explosions near the Iranian city of Isfahan.

Iran’s Fars news agency reported that explosions were heard near the Isfahan airport, but emphasized that the reason was unknown.

Global benchmark Brent traded 2.86% higher at $89.60 a barrel, while the U.S. West Texas Intermediate rose 2.83% to $85.05 per barrel.

—Lee Ying Shan

Japan’s headline inflation rate came in at 2.7% in March, easing from the 2.8% recorded in February.

Core inflation in the country stood at 2.6%, in line with expectations from economists polled by Reuters and down from February’s 2.8%.

The so called “core-core” inflation metric used by the Bank of Japan came in at 2.9% from 3.2%, the first time that the index has fallen below 3% since November 2022.

— Lim Hui Jie

Defensive corners of the market – utilities and consumer staples – emerged positive on the week even as the S&P 500 faced its third straight losing week.

The two sectors are the only ones in the S&P 500 with a week to date gain. Consumer staples are up 0.49% in the period, led by General Mills and Estee Lauder. Both names are up more than 4% week to date through Thursday.

Utilities, touting a 0.4% weekly gain as of Thursday’s close, are being led higher by Southern Company and Consolidated Edison. Both stocks are up more than 2% week to date.

This week’s action was marred by higher bond yields and sharp selloffs for stocks. It was especially rough for the rate-sensitive real estate sector and information technology, as both are facing a 4% decline this week.

–Darla Mercado, Chris Hayes

Check out the companies making headlines after the bell: 

Intuitive Surgical — Shares of the provider of robotic-assisted surgical solutions rose 1% after the company posted stronger-than-expected results. 

KB Home – The homebuilder advanced nearly 2% after announcing that its board of directors authorized a new $1 billion share repurchase. 

Western Alliance — The regional bank stock fell less than 1% in extended trading after the firm posted disappointing earnings.

— Yun Li

Main Street investors became much more bearish in the latest weekly survey from the American Association of Individual Investors, but not by enough to keep bullishness from staying above average for a 24th consecutive week.

Investors pessimistic about the outlook for stock prices over the next six months rose to 34.0% — the highest since early November — from 24% last week.

It was the first time investor bearishness was above the long-term historical average of 31.0% since early November, shortly after the current bull market began.

Bullishness narrowed to 38.3% — still above the long-term historical average of 37.5% — from 43.4% last week. The recent high came the week before Christmas when bullishness touched 52.9%, although readings of 51.7% and 50.0% in early and late March came close.

— Scott Schnipper