Stock futures exhibited minimal variation on Tuesday, following a slight decline at the start of the trading week. Meanwhile, oil prices experienced an uptick, driven by investor concerns regarding the prospects of a comprehensive agreement to fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 and S&P 500 exhibited increases of 0.3% and 0.1%, respectively, whereas futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average showed a slight decline. Yesterday, the benchmark S&P 500 experienced a minor decline of less than 0.1% following its record high closure last Friday. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite experienced a decline of 0.3%, while the blue-chip index saw a slight decrease of 0.1%.
Crude oil futures experienced an increase for the second consecutive day at the start of the week, as investors expressed scepticism regarding the imminent realisation of a deal to completely reopen the Strait of Hormuz for shipping activities. WTI futures, the U.S. benchmark, advanced 2.4% to just over $84 a barrel in recent trading, while Brent futures, the international benchmark, gained 2.2% to about $89.75. Meanwhile, the yield on the 10-year Treasury increased to 4.73% from 4.71% at Monday’s close, amid concerns that escalating energy prices might provoke inflation. Shares of Intel, which fell 4% yesterday after the company announced a $15 billion stock offering, pulled back a further 1% in premarket trading after the firm increased the size of the offering to $20 billion.
The Magnificent Seven tech giants exhibited a varied performance prior to the market opening. Nvidia stock pointed up 1% after declining nearly 3% Monday. Riot Platforms shares soared 20% after reports of bitcoin miner had inked a roughly $9 billion cloud deal with Anthropic to supply the Claude maker with 191 megawatts of computing capacity. In the aftermath of earnings announcements, shares of Swiss sneaker manufacturer On Holding experienced a decline of 16% following the release of second-quarter results that fell short of expectations and a downward revision of its sales guidance. Conversely, Cardinal Health saw an increase of 5%. CoreWeave, Super Micro Computer, and Lumentum Holdings are among notable names slated to post results after markets close.
Gold futures increased by 0.3%, reaching $4,430 per ounce. Bitcoin was valued at approximately $64,200, reflecting a modest increase in the last 24 hours. The U.S. dollar index, which monitors the value of the greenback against a basket of foreign currencies, increased by 0.1% to 99.87. Investors will direct their attention tomorrow to the forthcoming CPI inflation report, which is poised to influence market anticipations regarding the Federal Reserve’s actions on interest rates. The unexpectedly weak July jobs report released on Friday alleviated investor apprehensions regarding an imminent increase in the central bank’s key interest rate; however, a robust inflation figure could potentially reignite those concerns.
