S&P 500 futures edged 0.2% higher early Monday as Wall Street attempted to recover from a week that saw the benchmark index drop 1.6%, with chip stocks and Middle East tensions weighing on sentiment.
The three major U.S. stock indexes all closed in the red last week. The Nasdaq Composite sank 2.9%, while the Dow lost 0.9%, according to CNBC. Semiconductor weakness was a key culprit, with the VanEck Semiconductor ETF losing nearly 9% for the week.
Monday’s premarket action showed modest gains across the board. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures climbed 0.2%, while Nasdaq-100 futures added 0.4%, according to Barron’s data. The recovery came despite ongoing U.S.-Iran tensions that escalated over the weekend, with the U.S. military conducting a ninth consecutive night of strikes against Iran.
Jonathan Krinsky, chief market technician at BTIG, told CNBC’s “Closing Bell: Overtime” that semiconductors may face more declines ahead. “They could certainly bounce here in the short term, but we don’t see signs of kind of that real big washout that you’re looking for,” Krinsky said. “It’s probably too soon if you just think about two weeks ago, really, we had record volumes on the upside for names like Micron and the like, so I think it’s probably premature to look for a bottom there.”
Oil prices climbed amid the Middle East escalation. U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures rose 2.79% to $84.79 per barrel, while Brent crude futures gained 3.22% to $90.94 a barrel, according to CNBC. The conflict has raised concerns about potential disruptions to energy shipments through the Strait of Hormuz.
Investors were also watching for earnings from major tech companies this week. Alphabet and Tesla are set to report after the bell on Wednesday, while Intel—which dropped 13% last week amid the chip sector selloff—is scheduled to release results on Thursday, according to CNBC.
Sources
- CNBC — stock futures mixed, weekly losses for all three major indexes, semiconductor weakness, oil prices, earnings schedule
- Barron’s — S&P 500 futures, Dow futures, Nasdaq futures premarket gains
- WTVB — S&P 500 E-mini futures up 16.5 points early Monday
