Stock Market Today: S&P 500, Dow Jones, Nasdaq 100 Futures Drop Following Asian Market Sell-off, Middle East Tensions

U.S. stock futures were lower on Thursday, as the Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 indices fell, following Wednesday’s higher close.

First-time filings for U.S. unemployment benefits fell to a seasonally adjusted 194,000 for the week ending Oct. 17, representing a drop of 6,000 claims from the prior week's revised total. The four-week moving average for initial claims also edged down slightly to 197,750.

Reuters reported the U.S. State Department also ordered some diplomats and family members to leave its missions in Saudi Arabia following Houthi attacks. Separately, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran is willing to resume diplomacy with President Donald Trump‘s administration and added that Iran would reconsider negotiations if Washington genuinely committed to building trust and reaching a fair agreement. “But if US chooses war over diplomacy, it’ll certainly result in an even greater strategic failure,” he wrote.

Also, Asian markets retreated Thursday as reports that the U.S. and Israel have drawn up plans for potential renewed strikes on Iran after the November midterm elections heightened geopolitical uncertainty

Meanwhile, the 10-year Treasury bond yielded 5.08%, and the 2-year Treasury bond yielded 4.77%, at the last check. The CME Group’s FedWatch tool projections show markets pricing in an 87.3% likelihood of the Federal Reserve keeping interest rates unchanged after its October meeting.

Thursday’s heavy earnings slate also includes Procter & Gamble Co. (NYSE:PG), Lockheed Martin Corp. (NYSE:LMT), Spotify Technology SA (NYSE:SPOT), Western Digital Corp. (NASDAQ:WDC), and Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ:CMCSA).

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE: SPY) and Invesco QQQ Trust ETF (NASDAQ: QQQ), which track the S&P 500 index and Nasdaq 100 index, respectively, were lower in premarket trading on Thursday. The SPY was down 0.87% at $766.37, while the QQQ declined 1.52% to $714.20.