Stock futures rise as investors keep an eye on recent U.S.-Iran developments: Live updates

Market Updates and Middle East Developments

U.S. stock futures remained mostly stable Sunday evening as investors kept an eye on the ongoing situation in the Middle East.

The S&P 500 futures saw a slight increase of 0.1%, while Nasdaq 100 futures remained nearly unchanged. In contrast, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose by around 81 points, which is about 0.2%.

On Friday, both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite achieved new intraday and closing highs, with the overall market index climbing by 0.29%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq even gained 0.89%. However, the Dow went against this trend, dropping by 152.87 points, or 0.31%.

On Sunday, President Donald Trump took to his Truth Social account to announce “Project Freedom.” This initiative aims to assist U.S. efforts in “liberating” cargo ships that have become trapped due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz amidst the conflict. He indicated that this effort would commence on Monday.

In his post, he mentioned that he instructed representatives to ensure the safe exit of vessels and crew from the strait. However, he noted that the involved parties have expressed reluctance to navigate until it is deemed safe. The details of how this operation would take shape were not elaborated further.

This announcement came shortly after Iran disclosed it had received a response from the U.S. concerning its latest peace proposal. Reportedly, Iran communicated an updated offer through a Pakistani intermediary on Friday, which briefly raised investor optimism about a potential thaw in U.S.-Iran relations. However, Trump expressed dissatisfaction with Iran’s offer, suggesting that it was only signed due to the absence of U.S. troops in the region.

Investor sentiment related to the Middle East and robust first-quarter earnings have propelled stock prices to new heights recently. Nigel Tapper, a strategist at Bank of America, believes there’s still reason for optimism.

“We see strong global earnings cycles and various ongoing investment trends bolstering global equity market returns,” Tapper remarked in a note to clients.

Chris Seniek from Wolfe Research shared similar views, noting that the impressive performance of tech giants is likely to keep artificial intelligence as a key market theme. He commented, “Investors seem likely to continue pursuing perceived tech winners, particularly in semiconductors and memory, as earnings from major tech companies help drive the AI narrative further.”

This week, all eyes will be on the upcoming April jobs report, scheduled for release on Friday at 8:30 a.m. ET. The Dow Jones Consensus predicts a modest increase of just 53,000 jobs in April, a significant drop from the previous surge of 178,000, with the unemployment rate expected to hold at 4.3%.