Stocks - U.S. Futures Drop Ahead of Trump’s Decision on Iran
Investing.com - U.S. futures pointed to a lower open on Tuesday as investors looked ahead to President Donald Trump’s announcement on the Iran nuclear deal and another round of earnings releases.
The blue-chip Dow futures fell 69 points, or 0.28%, by 6:45AM ET (10:45GMT), the S&P 500 futures lost 9 points, or 0.33%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures traded down 21 points, or 0.30%
Trump is widely expected to pull out of the 2015 international nuclear deal and reinstate sanctions against Tehran which in turn could impact Iranian oil exports.
Iran, which is a major Middle East oil producer and member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), resumed its role as a major oil exporter in January 2016 when international sanctions against Tehran were lifted in return for curbs on Iran's nuclear program.
Trump will make the announcement from Washington at 2:00PM ET (18:00GMT) on Tuesday.
Oil prices pulled back from three-and-a-half year highs reached a day earlier in what was largely attributed to be a “buy the rumor, sell the news” market move as the announcement comes several days ahead of the original May 12 deadline.
U.S. crude futures slumped 1.23% to $69.86 by 6:47AM ET (10:47GMT), while Brent oil traded down 0.95% to $75.45.
Meanwhile, in a relatively light day for economic data with just the Job Openings and Labor Turnover survey (JOLTs) to be released at 10:00AM ET (14:00GMT), the dollar continued to show strength against major rivals, hitting yet another 2018 high.
Earlier on Tuesday, Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell downplayed risks to financial markets from policymakers’ plans to gradually raise interest rates.
Powell promised to “communicate our policy strategy as clearly and transparently as possible to help align expectations and avoid market disruptions”.
“Fed policy normalization has proceeded without disruption to financial markets, and market participants' expectations for policy seem reasonably well aligned with policymakers' expectations...suggesting that markets should not be surprised by our actions if the economy evolves in line with expectations,” he said.
At 6:48AM ET (10:48GMT) Tuesday, the U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, rose 0.29% to 92.88.
As the earnings season winds down this week, Tuesday will see the publication of a slew of reports. While markets will likely focus on Disney (NYSE:DIS), with the Dow component set to report after the market close, other notable firms releasing numbers include Valeant Pharmaceuticals (NYSE:VRX), Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA), Etsy (NASDAQ:ETSY), Match Group (NASDAQ:MTCH), Marriott (NASDAQ:MAR), Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST), and TripAdvisor (NASDAQ:TRIP).
Elsewhere, European stocks were mostly lower, with a flurry of first-quarter corporate earnings and mergers and acquisitions deals prompting sharp individual price moves.
Earlier, Asian shares closed broadly higher, boosted by upbeat China trade data and gains in tech shares
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