US equity futures fell on Monday, with DJIA futures down about 0.4% near 49,100 after briefly moving below 49,050. The S&P 500 dipped about 0.2% and the Nasdaq Composite fell roughly 0.4% after both set record highs on Friday.<\/p>\n
Tension linked to Iran left energy markets tight, after President Donald Trump cancelled plans to send Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Pakistan for ceasefire talks. Iran\u2019s Foreign Ministry said no meeting with Washington is scheduled, while Axios reported Iran proposed reopening the Strait of Hormuz in return for deferring nuclear talks.<\/p>\n
WTI rose above $97 a barrel and Brent topped $109, both up about 3% on the day. Stochastic RSI on the 5-minute chart was near 34.<\/p>\n
The FOMC decision is due Wednesday at 18:00 GMT, with the press conference at 18:30 GMT. CME FedWatch put the chance of a hold at 3.50% to 3.75% at about 99%, while Polymarket showed 40% odds of zero cuts in 2026 and 28% pricing one cut.<\/p>\n
Five of the Magnificent Seven report this week, with Microsoft, Meta, Alphabet, and Amazon on Wednesday and Apple on Thursday. JPMorgan raised its year-end S&P 500 target to 7,600 from 7,200.<\/p>\n
Verizon rose about 3.5% after lifting its 2026 adjusted earnings outlook, while Qualcomm jumped about 10% on partnership reports. Domino\u2019s fell about 10%, Marvell dropped over 5%, and POET Technologies slid nearly 50%.<\/p>\n
Thursday brings Q1 GDP at 12:30 GMT, seen at 2.2% annualised versus 0.5% prior, plus core PCE expected at 3.2% YoY versus 3.0%. Friday\u2019s ISM manufacturing PMI is forecast at 53 versus 52.7.<\/p>\n
Given the market’s retreat from record highs, we should brace for higher volatility in the coming days. The mix of geopolitical tension, a pivotal Federal Reserve meeting, and concentrated tech earnings creates a perfect storm for wider price swings. Options strategies that profit from chop, such as straddles on the SPX or NDX, could be more prudent than holding outright directional futures bets.<\/p>\n
The Iran impasse is the most immediate factor, and the jump in crude prices above $97 for WTI is a clear signal. With the Strait of Hormuz still facing disruption, a chokepoint for roughly 20% of the world’s daily oil consumption, being long energy remains the most direct trade. We should look at call options on energy ETFs or producers, as this energy shock will likely persist and weigh on industrial and transport stocks.<\/p>\n
Wednesday’s Fed meeting is less about the rate hold, which is fully priced in, and more about future guidance. After the series of cuts we saw through 2025 failed to fully tame inflation, any hawkish language from Powell could solidify the market’s pricing for zero cuts this year. A surprisingly soft tone on inflation, however, could spark a sharp rally, making cheap, short-dated index calls an interesting speculative play.<\/p>\n
This week’s direction will ultimately be decided by the technology giants reporting after Wednesday’s close. Expectations are incredibly high for AI-related capital expenditure, and any sign of a slowdown from Microsoft or Alphabet could unravel the recent rally. Considering the S&P 500 has already blown past the median year-end targets we saw at the start of 2026, the risk of a sharp pullback on any earnings disappointment is significant.<\/p>\n
We must also watch Thursday’s economic data, where a hot core PCE reading above the expected 3.2% would reinforce the Fed’s cautious stance. Looking back at the persistent inflation of 2023, another accelerating print would be a major headwind for equities. This, combined with Friday’s ISM data, will likely confirm that higher oil prices are feeding directly into the cost of goods, complicating the path forward for the market.<\/p>\n
Create your live VT Markets account<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0start trading<\/a>\u00a0now. <\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" US equity futures slid as Iran tensions lifted oil; markets await Fed decision and Big Tech earnings.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45991","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-live-updates"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"featured_image_src":null,"featured_image_src_square":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"josephine","author_link":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/author\/josephine\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45991","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/38"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45991"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45991\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45991"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45991"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45991"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}