Wall Street fell after a mixed session on Thursday as the Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged at its latest meeting.
S&P 500 futures fell 0.2%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.3%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index fell 0.2%.
All major indexes fell after President Donald Trump announced he would decide within two weeks whether to intervene in the Israeli-Iran conflict.
Trump has remained open to nuclear talks with Iran despite heightened tensions with Israel. He has set a two-week deadline for a decision on whether the US will directly intervene in the conflict.
Trump has also stressed that he favors a diplomatic solution but does not rule out military action if necessary, while opposing Iran's nuclear activities for fear that they could lead to the development of nuclear weapons.
In other developments, as expected by all parties, the Fed has kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 4.25%-4.50% during the FOMC meeting at 2:00 am yesterday.
Fed Chairman Jerome Powell expects at least two interest rate cuts in 2025 or 2026, while warning of the risk of continued inflation due to Trump's tariff agenda.
Trump, in turn, criticized the decision made by the Fed and repeated the call for a rate cut immediately after the end of the next meeting.
Investors remain focused on geopolitical tensions in the Middle East following Trump's announcement expected in two weeks on the possible involvement of the US in the war.
