08:52 AM EDT, 07/17/2026 (MT Newswires) -- US equity futures were edging lower pre-bell Friday as concerns over artificial intelligence spending weighed on chip stocks and the wider technology sector, while the conflict in the Middle East showed no signs of de-escalating.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were 0.5% lower, S&P 500 futures were down 0.9%, and Nasdaq futures were 1.9% lower.

Global tech stocks continued their drop from the previous session, including Nvidia ( NVDA ) , which was down 2.6% in premarket activity.

US Central Command said in a post on X that it completed the sixth consecutive wave of attacks against Iran, degrading the nation's military capabilities and holding it "accountable" for recent attacks on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran said it had targeted US military forces in Syria and Bahrain in a broadening of the scope of its attacks in the Middle East.

Traders assessed the latest round of earnings, with Netflix ( NFLX ) reporting an increase in fiscal Q2 earnings and revenue on late Thursday.

Oil prices were higher, with front-month global benchmark North Sea Brent crude up 2.4% at $86.20 per barrel and US West Texas Intermediate crude 2.5% higher at $80.95 per barrel.

June housing starts rose to a 1.427 million annual rate from 1.199 million in the previous month, compared with expectations for a 1.31 million rate in a survey compiled by Bloomberg. US import prices rose 0.3% in June, above the 0.7% increase expected and below the 1.7% gain in May. US export prices fell 0.6% in June, compared with the 0.7% decrease expected and the 1.2% increase in the prior month.

The June industrial production report, due at 9:15 am ET, is forecast to show a 0.2% gain following a 0.1% increase in the prior month. The University of Michigan consumer sentiment index for July, slated for 10 am ET, is expected at 51.0, up from 49.5 previously.

In other world markets, Japan's Nikkei closed 4% lower, Hong Kong's Hang Seng ended 1.8% lower, and China's Shanghai Composite finished 3.1% lower. Meanwhile, the UK's FTSE 100 was flat, and Germany's DAX index was 0.5% lower in Europe's early afternoon session.

In equities, included in the tech stock sell-off were Applied Materials ( AMAT ) , Lam Research ( LRCX ) , and Intel ( INTC ) , which were down 5.3%, 4.7%, and 4.5%, respectively. SpaceX (SPCX) shares fell 4.4% after CEO Elon Musk said in a post on X that the company's Starship rocket triggered an "automatic launch abort" Thursday, with the next launch to be rescheduled possibly "in a few days." Netflix ( NFLX ) stock was down 11% after it posted Q2 revenue that fell short of analysts' consensus estimates.

On the winning side, energy-related stocks rose along with the increase in oil prices. Exxon Mobil (XOM) shares were 2% higher, Shell (SHEL) stock was up 2.1%, and TotalEnergies (TTE) shares were up 2.3%.