Futures Move Higher After Strikes Paused
U.S. stock futures are sharply higher in premarket trading and reversed from losses, after the major U.S. indices posted their fourth-straight weekly slide. The moves come as the Iran war entered its fourth week, with tensions escalating over the weekend. President Donald Trump threatened an attack on Iranian power plants if the Strait of Hormuz isn’t reopened.
This morning, stocks reversed higher after the President instructed the Department Of War To postpone any and all military strikes against Iranian power plants and energy infrastructure for a five day period, subject to the success of ongoing meetings and discussions.
Oil futures (/CL) reversed lower with WTI currently near $92 a barrel and Brent futures (/BZ) at $105. Bond Yields are also negatively impacting stocks with the 10-Year Yield hitting 8-month highs near 4.43% before reversing on Trump’s comments. Investor focus this week will continue to be on headline risk out of the Middle East along with bearish sentiment across risk-on assets.
Snapshot (as of 7 AM ET)
- Oil (/CL) – Oil prices are down about 6% near $92 a barrel as investors weighed comments from President Trump this morning: “I Have Instructed Department Of War To Postpone Any And All Military Strikes Against Iranian Power Plants And Energy Infrastructure For A Five Day Period, Subject To Success Of Ongoing Meetings And Discussions.” Oil prices fluctuated after Trump on Saturday threatened to “obliterate” Tehran’s power plants if it failed to fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours, a deadline that is set to expire on Monday in Washington.
- Gold (/GC) – Gold futures are down another 4% near $4390 and are extending their recent sell-off, falling sharply as investors continue to retreat from precious metals as a safe haven trade amid the ongoing war in Iran. The precious yellow metal lost almost 10% last week in its worst showing since September 2011. Gold Futures have now lost over 20% since hitting a record high of $5626 at the end of January.
- Bitcoin (/BTC) – The Crypto Future is flat near 70,200 in premarket trading.
- VIX – The CBOE Volatility Index was up 11.3% on Friday and settled at 26.78 as stocks fell broadly. The VIX is up 1% at 27.1 ahead of the opening bell as stocks reversed sharply higher from overnight lows.
- U.S. Dollar (/DX) – The dollar is flat at 99.4.
Biggest Premarket Movers (as of 7 AM ET - Mark % Change)
- Carnival (CCL): +3.61%
- Smurfit Westrock (SW): +3.34%
- Norwegian Cruise Line (NCLH): +3.17%
- Delta Airlines (DAL): +2.77%
- Capital One Financial (COF): 2.69%
- CF Industries (CF): -4.76%
- Super Micro Computer (SMCI): -2.48%
- LyondellBasell (LYB): -2.41%
- Occidental Petroleum (OXY): -2.16%
- Dow (DOW): -2.05%
Economic Data
- 8:30 AM ET: Chicago Fed National Activity Index
- 10:00 AM ET: Construction Spending (Delayed)
Notable Earnings
- Premarket: WRD
- Postmarket: None
- Premarket Tomorrow: CNXC, CNM, HSAI, SFD, EVTL
- Postmarket Tomorrow: AIR, GME, KBH, WOR
Upgrades/Downgrades
- Mizuho upgrades MongoDB (MDB) to Outperform from Neutral
- Barclays upgrades APA Corp. (APA) to Equal Weight from Underweight
- Morgan Stanley upgrades Cheniere Energy (LNG) to Overweight from Equal Weight
- Wells Fargo downgrades Crown Castle (CCI) to Equal Weight from Overweight
- Northland downgrades Super Micro (SMCI) to Market Perform from Outperform
- William Blair double downgrades GitLab (GTLB) to Underperform from Outperform
