US pre-open: Futures mixed as Middle East tensions, oil prices remain in focus

(Sharecast News) - Wall Street futures were mixed ahead of the opening bell on Tuesday as investors weighed signs of progress toward reopening the Strait of Hormuz against lingering doubts over whether Washington and Tehran can reach a broader settlement. As of 1230 BST, Dow Jones futures were down 0.05%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures had the indices opening 0.10% and 0.26% higher, respectively.

The Dow closed 60.95 points lower on Monday as optimism over a potential US‑Iran agreement to re-open the Strait of Hormuz faded.

Middle East news was in focus yet again prior to the open on Tuesday after Iran said it was close to agreeing a deal with Oman to reopen the key waterway, but has continued to rule out direct talks with the US until several conditions have been met.

Foreign minister Abbas Araghchi reiterated at the weekend that there was "no possibility of restarting negotiations" while the US continued to violate the pair's June memorandum of understanding and failed to compensate Iran for those breaches, according to the semi‑official Tasnim News Agency.

As a result, oil prices continued to move higher early on Tuesday, with West Texas Intermediate futures up 2.01% at $83.78 a barrel and international benchmark Brent crude rising 1.89% to $89.38 a barrel.

On the macro front, the National Federation of Independent Business' small business optimism index rose to 99.8 in July, its strongest reading since last August, up from 97.4 in June and ahead of expectations. Eight of the index's ten components improved, with hiring plans showing the biggest gain. Real sales expectations and reports of inventories being "too low" both slipped by two points. However, the uncertainty index increased two points to 91, remaining well above its long‑run average of 68, driven by more owners expressing doubt over whether it is a good time to expand and uncertainty around capital‑expenditure plans.

Still to come, July existing home sales figures will be published at 1500 BST.

In the corporate space, Super Micro Computers and H&R Block will both report their latest quarterly earnings after the close.





Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com