US pre-open: Futures mixed as Middle East tensions, Q1 earnings remain in focus

(Sharecast News) - Wall Street futures pointed to a mixed open ahead of the bell on Tuesday as Middle East tensions remained firmly in focus and first-quarter earnings earnings season began to pick up steam. As of 1300 BST, Dow Jones futures were up 0.22%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures had the indices opening 0.59% and 1.16% softer, respectively.

The Dow Jones closed 62.92 points lower on Monday, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq hit fresh record highs.

Middle East tensions remained in focus ahead of the bell on Tuesday after Donald Trump scrapped plans to send special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Pakistan for ceasefire discussions, saying that talks could instead take place by phone. Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said no meetings between Washington and Tehran were currently planned.

However, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt later confirmed that the president and his national security team had discussed Iran's proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz if the conflict ends and the US lifts its blockade.

Oil prices pushed headed higher early on Tuesday, with West Texas Intermediate up 5.31% to $101.49 a barrel, while Brent gained 3.97% to $112.53 a barrel.

Tech stocks were also under pressure after a Wall Street Journal report said OpenAI had recently seen revenue and user growth fall short of internal targets, adding that chief financial officer Sarah Friar had warned leadership about the company's ability to meet future computing‑cost commitments if growth does not accelerate. Nvidia was down more than 2% in pre-market trading, while Broadcom and Intel shed around 4%, AMD dropped nearly 6%, and Oracle traded 7% ahead of the open.

Elsewhere in the corporate space, Coca-Cola reported quarterly earnings and revenue that topped expectations, fuelled by higher demand for its beverages, parcel delivery giant UPS posted a Q1 profit and revenue decline, but signalled a return to growth in the coming months, automaker General Motors hiked its full-year profit guidance on the back of a Q1 earnings beat, and consumer goods manufacturer Kimberly-Clark reported increased Q1 profits and rising sales, citing product innovation and resilient consumer demand.

Still to come, Visa, T-Mobile, Booking Holdings and Starbucks will report earnings after the close.

On the macro front, February's S&P/Case-Shiller home price index will be published at 1400 BST, while April consumer confidence figures and the Richmond Fed's April manufacturing index will follow at 1500 BST.



Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com