Wall Street's main indexes were on track to fall at the open Wednesday as fresh U.S.-Iran tensions cast doubt over peace in the Middle East, marking a cautious start to the second half of 2026.

Tehran said it would not meet with ‌top U.S. envoys who flew to the region following an outbreak of hostilities.

Although a source with ​direct knowledge of the talks as well as an Iranian official said the U.S. and Iran held technical talks in Doha, contrasting rhetoric suggested a breakthrough could be elusive.

Repeated false dawns ⁠have made the conflict difficult to track, leading some investors to focus instead on the economy's underlying pillars.

Premarket declines, ​however, indicated that the Middle East war was difficult to ignore, especially given the impact the region has on ⁠global energy markets.

As of 9:00 a.m. ET, U.S. stock futures pointed to a weaker open, led by another selloff in technology shares.

The Nasdaq futures fell 275.75 points, or 0.90%, to 30,247.75, suggesting the tech-heavy index could face the sharpest declines at the opening bell.

S&P 500 futures slipped 21.25 points, or 0.28%, to 7,527.00, while Dow Jones Industrial Average futures lost 153 points, or 0.29%, to 52,517.00.

Small-cap stocks were also under pressure, with Russell 2000 futures down 9.90 points, or 0.33%, to 3,035.70.

"I don't get the sense that there's a great deal of euphoria out there at the moment. ‌The mood is sanguine, but not complacent," said Benjamin Jones, global head of research at Invesco.

Investors are ​also worried the U.S. ‌Federal Reserve might have to hike interest rates and keep them elevated to control inflation.

Traders expect the central bank to raise borrowing costs at least once by the end ‌of the year, according to data compiled by LSEG.

Additionally, data released on Tuesday showed U.S. job openings edged up to a two-year high in May, indicating a stable labor market. That could give the Fed less ⁠reason to worry about employment and allow it greater ‌leeway to focus on prices.

Interest-rate uncertainty is ⁠also high because Kevin Warsh, who took over as Federal Reserve chair in May, has launched a review that could reshape the way the ⁠central bank ⁠communicates with the public.

In his first policy meeting as chair, Warsh built consensus around a policy statement jettisoning any forward guidance on the central bank's near-term actions.

He will ‌join other central bank chiefs at a forum in Portugal later in the day.

Traders will also parse U.S. manufacturing activity data from the Institute for Supply Management on Wednesday.

Additionally, markets will look for clues on the health of the labor market ‌on Thursday, ​when the nonfarm payrolls report for June ‌is due to be released.

Major premarket movers included Nike, which fell 2.1% after its results as the sportswear giant signaled that its turnaround strategy still faces obstacles.

Shutterstock plunged nearly 32% after calling off its planned ​merger with Getty Images.

Oklo added 4.2% after the nuclear technology company said the U.S. Department of Energy had approved the safety analysis for its Groves isotope test reactor.