U.S. stock futures were higher early Tuesday after the major averages suffered declines amid growing concerns that conflict in the Middle East could escalate once more.
S&P 500 futures
traded 0.27% higher, while Nasdaq 100 futures
gained 0.4%. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average
added 126 points, or 0.26%.
Stocks fell across the board on Monday, with the blue-chip Dow
falling 557.37 points, or 1.13%. The S&P 500
lost 0.41%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite
slipped 0.19%.
The losses came after the United Arab Emirates said on Monday that Iran launched drones and missiles against it, putting an already fragile ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran on even shakier ground.
The U.S. reportedly said that it had sunk Iranian boats in the Strait of Hormuz. Admiral Brad Cooper, who leads U.S. Central Command, said on Monday afternoon that American forces had eliminated six small Iranian boats that were attempting to interfere with commercial shipping, Reuters reported. However, Iranian state media denied that the boats had been sunk.
Oil prices rose in Monday’s regular session. In extended trading, U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures
fell 1%.
Despite this ramp up in Middle East tensions and Monday’s losses, Morgan Stanley Wealth Management’s Dan Skelly still sees reason to stay optimistic.
“You’ve seen this pattern before where — last year in April, with Liberation Day — big sell-off, big recovery. Now with the war in the Middle East, it’s almost like the market is treating geopolitics and some of these domestic policy shocks like pop-up ads along a longer, winding narrative centered on AI, the economy and resilient earnings,” the firm’s head of market research and strategy said on CNBC’s “Closing Bell: Overtime” on Monday afternoon. He added that companies have been posting strong earnings reports thus far.
