Wall Street futures are fluctuating – Oil prices are falling

US stock futures fluctuated and crude oil prices fell on Monday as investors focused on news of a possible ceasefire in the Iran war.

At the time of review, the Dow Jones index future was down 0.1 percent, the S&P 500 index was up 0.1 percent, and the Nasdaq future was up 0.4 percent. In Europe and Asia, several stock exchanges are closed, but the stock markets of Korea and Japan, for example, showed an upward trend on Monday.

The price of oil was falling on Monday. Brent crude oil was around $109 and WTI was around $110.

The dollar weakened and the interest rate on the US ten-year government bond remained at 4.34 percent.

News site Axios reports that US allies are pressuring the parties for a last-minute deal with Iran. However, according to the sources, the creation of an agreement in the next 48 hours is unlikely. A representative of the Iranian Foreign Ministry stated that “no sane person” would agree to the proposed ceasefire. Over the weekend, President Donald Trump made dire threats to destroy Iran’s power plants.

“This combination of pressure and negotiations leaves the market without a stable anchor point,” said of IG Group senior market analyst Sergio Avila. According to him, the price increase is tactical, and it does not yet signal a permanent improvement in the economic outlook.

Investors reacted sensitively to the news, as the Iran war fueled inflationary fears. The price of gold has fallen since the start of the war, when the risks of inflation have outweighed gold’s traditional position as a safe haven.

However, the market mood was cheered by signs that a few ships have managed to cross the Strait of Hormuz. Last week, a French container ship and a Japanese-owned tanker secured the transit. Two Qatari liquefied natural gas (LNG) tankers are also seeking to leave the Persian Gulf. A successful passage would mark the first export to buyers outside the region since the start of the war.

At the same time, Trump repeated his threat to strike Iran’s civilian infrastructure, telling Axios that he would “blow everything up” if there was no deal. Trump is planning a news conference for Monday and has referred to a Tuesday night deadline without giving further details.

Bloomberg’s the strategy Mark Cranfieldin according to investors are now focusing on reports of a possible 45-day ceasefire. This shows how strongly the market hopes for the situation to calm down. However, if Trump cancels the ceasefire hopes in his speech, the positive trend can quickly turn into a decline.

The Bloomberg article has been translated and edited into Finnish by Rosamari Nenonen.