07:48 AM EDT, 06/20/2025 (MT Newswires) -- US equity markets were pointing lower before the open Friday as tensions between Israel and Iran remained elevated, while investors assessed the possibility of direct US involvement in the conflict.

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq were down 0.1% each before the opening bell, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average was off 0.2%. The indexes ended the Wednesday trading session mixed.

US markets were closed on Thursday for the Juneteenth National Independence Day holiday.

President Donald Trump will decide within the next two weeks whether the US will become directly involved in the Israel-Iran conflict.

"Based on the fact that there's a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future, I will make my decision whether or not to go within the next two weeks," Trump said in a Thursday message, according to White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt, Bloomberg News reported.

Israel and Iran continued to trade strikes overnight, with no signs of de-escalation in their conflict that began last week.

Earlier in the week, Trump demanded "unconditional surrender" by Iran and stressed that Tehran should have signed a nuclear deal with Washington.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil inclined 0.7% to $75.68 a barrel before the opening bell. On Wednesday, government data showed that commercial crude stockpiles in the US dropped more than projected last week even as inventories of propane and propylene and distillate fuel grew.

Also on Wednesday, the Federal Reserve left interest rates in the range of 4.25% to 4.50%, in line with Wall Street's expectations. Policymakers lowered rates by 50 basis points in September and by 25 basis points each in November and December.

In a Thursday post on social media, Trump said interest rates should have been "2.5 points lower" and that Fed Chair Jerome Powell is "costing our country hundreds of billions of dollars." Trump has repeatedly called for the central bank to cut rates.

US Treasury yields were moving higher in premarket action, with the two-year rate rising 0.9 basis points to 3.95% and the 10-year rate edging up 0.2 basis points to 4.42%.

Friday's economic calendar has the Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index for June at 8:30 am ET, followed by the weekly Baker Hughes domestic oil-and-gas rig count at 1 pm.

Shares of GMS (GMS) jumped 23% pre-bell as the building products distributor confirmed it received a roughly $5 billion unsolicited buyout offer from QXO (QXO). Tesla (TSLA) gained 1.3% while Apple ( AAPL ) nudged down 0.3%.

Accenture ( ACN ) , Kroger ( KR ) , Darden Restaurants ( DRI ) and CarMax ( KMX ) report their latest financial results before the bell.

Gold decreased 1.1% to $3,372 per troy ounce, while bitcoin rose 1.7% to $106,075.