Stock futures pointed higher Monday after the three major equities indexes all finished in the red for a third consecutive week. Meanwhile, U.S. oil futures hovered near $100 a barrel as the closure of the Strait of Hormuz continues to weigh on crude prices.
Nasdaq 100, S&P 500, and Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were up a respective 0.7%, 0.6%, and 0.3%, respectively.
The major indexes closed lower for a third straight week Friday as oil prices continued to climb. On Monday, West Texas Intermediate crude futures, the U.S. oil-price benchmark, recently were down 1% to $97.60 a barrel after earlier touching above $102.50. Brent crude futures, the global benchmark, hit $106.50 earlier and recently advanced slightly to about $103.50 a barrel.
In recent Middle East developments, The Wall Street Journal reported that President Donald Trump was attempting to build a coalition of nations to escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz, while Trump warned he would consider attacking Iranian oil infrastructure on Kharg Island if the country continues to block the important shipping channel. About 90% of Iran’s crude exports are processed on Kharg Island, where the U.S. bombed Iranian military targets Friday.
Two days ahead of the Federal Reserve’s decision on interest rates, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note, which affects interest rates on all sorts of consumer loans, slipped to 4.26% from Friday’s close above 4.28%—its highest closing level since Jan. 20.
Gold futures were down 1.5% to $4,985 an ounce, while silver futures fell 5% to $77.25 an ounce. The U.S. Dollar Index, which tracks the value of the greenback against a basket of currencies, slipped 0.3% to 100.10. Bitcoin was trading around $73,400, up from overnight lows below $71,500.
Shares of most of the Magnificent Seven tech giants were higher before the bell, led by a 2.5% advance by Meta Platforms (META) following a Reuters report that the Facebook and Instagram parent was planning mass layoffs amid substantial AI costs. On Friday, Meta stock fell nearly 4% following a report in The New York Times that the company was delaying the rollout of a new AI model due to performance concerns.
Nvidia (NVDA) stock was up about 1% as its weeklong GPU Technology Conference kicks off today. The world’s most valuable company is widely expected to unveil new products and give more details on its roadmap at the event, and CEO Jensen Huang is due to give a keynote address on Monday at 2 p.m. ET. (You can watch the event here.)