Tuesday: Retail Sales, Pending Home Sales; Warsh Testimony; $UNH $GE $MMM $RTX $UAL Earnings
Wednesday: $TSLA $IBM $LUV $T $BA $GEV Earnings
Thursday: Jobless Claims, Mfg., Services PMIs; $INTC $LMT $AXP $AAL Earnings
Friday: Consumer Sentiment; $PG Earnings
U.S. stock index futures declined Monday after a strong three-week run, with S&P 500 futures falling 0.8% to 7,105.25, Nasdaq 100 futures down 0.6%, and Dow futures dropping 1% to 49,168. The pullback was driven by renewed geopolitical anxiety after the U.S. Navy seized an Iranian-flagged cargo ship and Iran rejected a second round of peace talks ahead of Tuesday's ceasefire expiration.
Crude oil jumped sharply after Iran re-closed the Strait of Hormuz less than 24 hours after declaring it open, with WTI futures rising ~6% to around $89 per barrel and Brent climbing over 5% to approximately $95–$96 a barrel. Kuwait also declared force majeure on oil shipments amid the blockade, amplifying global supply disruption fears and reigniting inflation concerns.
Spot gold fell roughly 0.6% to around $4,803 per ounce in early trading, pressured by surging oil prices that stoked inflation fears and pushed investors toward the dollar. Despite the dip, gold remains up approximately $1,380 from a year ago, with silver, platinum, and palladium also trading lower on the day.
Bitcoin slipped below the $75,000 level Monday as risk sentiment deteriorated on the back of escalating U.S.-Iran tensions, retreating from a recent high of around $78,000 reached last week on ceasefire optimism. Altcoins followed suit, with Ethereum losing 1.3% and XRP edging down 0.4%, though a Deutsche Bank survey noted U.S. crypto adoption rebounded to 12% in March, supported by $1.3 billion in institutional Bitcoin ETF inflows.
Despite Monday's risk-off tone, investors are gearing up for a pivotal earnings week featuring Tesla, UnitedHealth Group, IBM, Intel, Boeing, and several major airlines. Tesla shares entered the week up 15% over the prior week following CEO Elon Musk's recent announcements, while Morgan Stanley projected Apple quarterly EPS of $2.02 on revenue of $110.82 billion, ahead of Wall Street expectations.