Wall Street futures rise on US-Iran peace hopes as inflation data looms

Wall Street’s main indexes were poised to open higher on Tuesday as investors welcomed reports suggesting the United States and Iran were close to an arrangement to end six months of conflict. Pakistan’s defence minister, Khawaja Asif, told Bloomberg News that signals from recent days indicated a peace agreement was imminent, following confirmation from Qatar’s foreign ministry that talks between Iran and Oman were in an advanced stage.

The prospect of de-escalation saw Brent crude futures turn lower after hitting one-week highs. An exchange of demands between the U.S. and Iran regarding the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz had previously complicated efforts, pushing oil prices up 5% on Monday. Robert Pavlik, senior portfolio manager at Dakota Wealth, noted that while markets can become immune to geopolitical noise, positive developments regarding a potential end to hostilities typically cause oil prices to retreat.

At 8:56 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were up 54 points, or 0.1%, S&P 500 E-minis were up 11.5 points, or 0.15%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 103 points, or 0.35%. Wall Street’s main indexes closed lower on Monday as investors assessed the Middle East situation, though the S&P 500 and the Dow hovered near all-time highs. The Nasdaq, meanwhile, is about 2.1% below its life-high but well above its lows in July, when the tech-heavy index slid almost 10% from its peak.

Strong quarterly earnings in several sectors have boosted U.S. stocks to new highs, and signs of AI-related spending paying off have eased some jitters. Riot Platforms jumped 16.7% in premarket trading, following a media report that the cloud-computing firm clinched a $9 billion deal with Anthropic. Conversely, Intel dipped marginally as it announced the pricing of a $20 billion stock offering, and Rocket Lab slid 3.9% after appearing to push back the timeline for the first flight of its Neutron rocket.

Consumer and producer price inflation readings later this week might shape market expectations on the U.S. Federal Reserve’s policy path, given its focus on the inflation mandate and Chair Kevin Warsh’s stance on cutting back forward guidance on rates. Rising energy costs stemming from the Iran conflict have spurred inflation concerns and clouded the global economic outlook, complicating the path for central banks globally. Whether the central bank would increase rates in September or choose to pause has split traders almost evenly, according to the CME FedWatch Tool.

Individual stock movements reflected mixed corporate results, with U.S.-listed shares of On dropping 16.2% after the sportswear brand missed Wall Street sales estimates. Hims & Hers Health shed 7.3% after the telehealth company posted a wider-than-expected second-quarter loss, while LNG company Venture Global slipped 4.4% after its second-quarter revenue slightly missed estimates.