U.S. futures are rebounding from a major market sell-off Friday with a boost from sharply declining oil prices on hopes for progress in diplomatic efforts between the U.S. and Iran.
Futures for the S&P 500 advanced 0.5% Monday, while those for the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.6%. Nasdaq futures rose 0.8%.
U.S. stocks fell Friday in their worst day since June as investors dumped artificial intelligence and tech stocks. There is growing concern
that the massive investments in AI will not pay off, at least not fast enough.
Apple will report its latest earnings results after the bell Monday along with Palantir Technologies. Advanced Micro Devices will report its quarterly results on Tuesday.
Last week, earnings reports from Google parent Alphabet Inc. and Amazon rattled markets and raised fresh questions over whether their massive AI-related spending.
Oil prices dropped Monday, with Brent crude, the international standard, down 4.2% to $108.68 per barrel. Still, that’s much higher than the roughly $65 that a barrel of crude was selling for at this time last year.
Benchmark U.S. crude fell 4.2%, to $99.74 a barrel, compared with $61 per barrel at this time last February.
Iran’s top diplomat said in an interview shared on his Telegram channel over the weekend that Iranian negotiators were in Qatar for talks on a proposal that could reopen the Strait of Hormuz within two days if the U.S. meets several conditions. However, he said no direct talks were being held with the U.S.
The final outcome of the diplomatic efforts to avoid a return to all-out war depends on answers provided by the United States to the “Iranian questions,” he said.
Wall Street is also waiting for the outcome of Tuesday’s U.S. midterm elections. Voters across the political spectrum have shown increasing concerns about AI and data centers, along with inflation and other key issues.
There is critical U.S. economic data arriving Friday when the government issues its October jobs report. In September, U.S. employers added a disappointing 29,000 jobs and the unemployment rate ticked up to a still-low 4.2%.
In Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 gained 0.1% to 10,736.14 on Monday. Germany's DAX climbed 0.1% to 25,847.97, while the CAC 40 in Paris added 0.2% to 7,988.21. Asian markets were mostly higher.
The U.S. dollar rose to 157.91 Japanese yen from 157.49 yen. The euro was trading at $1.1211, up from $1.1160.
