Traders at work at the New York Stock Exchange on July 15, 2026.
new york stock exchange
Stock futures rose early Monday as oil prices fell amid a pause in fighting between the United States and Iran over the weekend. Traders were also eyeing a tough week for mega-cap stocks and a potentially unexpected Federal Reserve meeting.
Dow Jones Industrial Average Futures It rose by 550 points (1.1%). S&P500 futures Although it increased by 1%, Nasdaq 100 futures It rose by 1.7%.
With the easing of tensions in the Middle East, international benchmark Brent crude oil futures for September delivery fell 9.2% to around $87.89 per barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures fell more than 7% to $82.46 a barrel.
Ukraine’s collision with an Iranian merchant ship in the Caspian Sea has heightened tensions elsewhere, with Tehran accusing Kiev of “hostile and criminal acts.”
The coming week will be no shortage of challenges for the major averages. Following Alphabet’s disappointing results last week, a flurry of quarterly reports from Amazon, Apple, Metaplatforms and Microsoft could either allay investors’ fears about a surge in spending on artificial intelligence or add to their fears. This outcome could directly impact semiconductor companies, which are the main beneficiaries of the surge in AI spending.
“The biggest risk is continued spending,” said Ken Mahoney, CEO of Mahoney Asset Management. “And the problem is, if they listen to their shareholders and cut back on that spending a little bit or rein in that spending growth, the rest of the market is not going to like that.”
“So there’s kind of a seesaw factor,” he said.
The Fed is expected to make its latest decision on interest rates on Wednesday. The consensus view is that the central bank will raise rates in September, but markets are pricing in a strong possibility that the Fed will raise its benchmark borrowing rate by a quarter of a percentage point as early as this week, according to the CME FedWatch tool.
U.S. stocks are coming off another losing week as a slide in semiconductor stocks and uncertainty over war with Iran weigh on investors. On Friday, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq fell 0.6% and 2.1%, respectively, marking consecutive weekly losses. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.4%, falling for the third consecutive week.
