Wall Street pointed toward gains before markets opened on Monday and oil prices sank after Israel attacked Iran, hitting primarily military targets and not oil production facilities as some predicted.
Futures for the S&P 500 rose 0.4% before the bell, while futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.3%.
Crude oil prices fell sharply after a retaliatory strike by Israel over the weekend targeted Iranian military sites rather than its energy infrastructure as had been feared. Benchmark U.S. crude fell $4.22, or 5.9%, to $68.32 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, fell $4.23, or 5.6%, to $71.40 a barrel.
Prices for crude spiked globally on Oct. 2 after Iran fired nearly 200 missiles into Israel, an escalation of attacks between Israel and Iran and its Arab allies that threatened to push the Middle East closer to a regionwide war.
Many publicly-traded energy companies saw their shares decline anywhere between 2% and 5% in the premarket.
Corporate earnings reports, which have been mostly solid, continue to be a key focus for investors. More than a third of the companies in the S&P 500 index have reported their latest quarterly financial results. Most of the results have beat analysts’ forecasts.
Among the companies scheduled to report earnings this week are Ford, McDonald’s, and most major tech companies, including Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft, Amazon and Apple.
Shares in Dutch conglomerate Philips tumbled 17% after the health and home technology company said demand in China weakened further and was expected to continue.
A key report on U.S. consumer spending is expected later this week, called the PCE. Analysts expect it to show that the rate of inflation has eased to 2%. The central bank started cutting interest rates in September and economists expect another cut at its meeting in November.
The U.S. Federal Reserve raised its benchmark interest rate to its highest level in two decades in an effort to tame inflation back to 2%, without sinking the economy into a recession.
Also coming this week is the latest consumer confidence reading and the government’s first estimate on gross domestic product for the third quarter.
In Europe, France’s CAC 40 edged up 0.1% at midday, while Germany’s DAX fell 0.3% and Britain’s FTSE 100 gave back 0.4%.
In currency trading, the U.S. dollar rose to 152.59 Japanese yen from 152.24 yen. It was trading at 140-yen levels last month. The euro cost $1.0827, up from $1.0803.
The weak yen is a boon for Japan’s giant exporters like Toyota Motor Corp., whose stock gained 4.1% in Tokyo trading. Nintendo Co. gained 2.0%, while Sony Corp. rose nearly 2.0%.
Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party is still the top party, but several members failed to win reelection in Sunday’s vote after a scandal involving unreported campaign funding.
All told, the ruling coalition with junior partner Komeito secured 215 seats, down sharply from the majority of 279 it previously held, according to Japanese media.
Amid political uncertainty, the Bank of Japan is unlikely to take action any time soon on interest rates. The central bank has a monetary policy meeting later this week.
Tokyo stocks rose. Analysts say the ruling party defeat had been greatly expected and factored into markets from before.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 surged 1,8% to finish at 38,605.53. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.1% to 8,221.50. South Korea’s Kospi edged up 1.1% to 2,612.43. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added less than 0.1% to 20,599.36, while the Shanghai Composite rose 0.7% to 3,322.20.
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