Stock futures fell on Monday morning as tensions between the U.S. and Iran escalated over the weekend after President Trump announced that the U.S. seized an Iranian cargo ship in the Gulf of Oman. The move followed Iran’s refusal to join another round of peace talks in Pakistan planned by the U.S. Futures on the Nasdaq 100 (NDX), the S&P 500 (SPX), and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) were down 0.39%, 0.42%, and 0.45%, respectively, at 8:27 a.m. EDT on April 20.
Claim 55% Off TipRanks
Trade QQQ with leverageTrump also warned that the U.S. will destroy all power plants and bridges in Iran if the country doesn’t agree to a deal with the U.S. A ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran will end this week.
Furthermore, crude prices jumped in reaction to the unfavorable developments. At the time of writing, international benchmark Brent crude (CM:BZ) rose 5% to $94.79 per barrel, while WTI crude (CM:CL) was up 5.25% to $88.25.
Major indexes ended last week on a strong note, following news of the reopening of the Gulf of Hormuz. The Dow Jones gained 3.2% for the week, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite rose 4.5% and 7.2%, respectively.
Meanwhile, investors will focus on several key earnings this week, including reports from Tesla (TSLA), UnitedHealth (UNH), Boeing (BA), Vertiv (VRT), AT&T (T), Intel (INTC), American Airlines (AAL), and Comcast (CMCSA).
Turning to trending stocks, shares of Marvell Technology (MRVL) soared more than 5% in Monday’s pre-market trading after The Information reported that the chip company is in talks with Google (GOOGL) to build two new AI chips. In contrast, Broadcom (AVGO) stock plunged by more than 6%.
Meanwhile, TopBuild (BLD) stock rallied about 19% in Monday’s pre-market trading on news of the acquisition of the installer of insulation materials by QXO (QXO) in a $17 billion deal. Also, shares of Compass Pathways (CMPS) surged about 27% after President Donald Trump signed an executive order to ramp up reviews of psychedelic drugs.
AST SpaceMobile (ASTS) stock was down more than 12% after a satellite launched by the company was placed into the wrong orbit.