US stock-index futures rose early Tuesday, led by tech stocks, as traders weighed lingering Middle East supply risk against a strong first-quarter earnings season, with crude oil retreating and the dollar turning mixed against its major counterparts.
The positive tone follows Monday's pullback, with the S&P 500 closing at 7,200.75 (down 0.41%), the Dow shedding 557 points to 48,941.90, and the Nasdaq slipping 0.19% to 25,067.80. The retreat snapped a winning streak that culminated in S&P 500's strongest monthly gain since November 2020. The index climbed 0.4% in April.
Pre-Market Snapshot — 7:00 AM ET
- S&P 500 Futures: 7,261.75 (+0.33%)
- Dow Futures: 49,265 (+0.23%)
- Nasdaq-100 Futures: 27,932.50 (+0.56%)
- Russell 2000 Futures: 2,817.30 (+0.45%)
- VIX: 17.69 (-3.28%)
- WTI Crude Futures: $104.14(-2.14%)
- Gold Futures: $4,552+0.41%)
- EUR/USD: 1.1685 (-0.03%)
- Bitcoin (USD): $80,852.01 (+2.63%)
Overnight: Hong Kong Firm, Europe Higher in Early Trade
Asian trading closed mostly lower. Hong Kong's Hang Seng settled at 25,898.61, down 0.76%. The Australian market retreated 0.23% after the Reserve Bank of Australia hiked its official cash rate by 25 basis points to 4.35%. Commenting on the rate decision, ING strategists said, “RBA has once again followed through on its hawkish credentials and stands ready to do more. Here, the market thinks the RBA can skip the June meeting but hike again at either the August or September meeting.”
European markets opened on the back foot but have since reversed course and traded notably higher. The German DAX, France’s CAC 40 and the Euro Stoxx 50 all advanced solidly, while London's FTSE 100 languished deep in negative territory. The pan-European STOXX 600 gained more than 0.50%.
Commodities: Crude Retreats After Monday’s Strength
Energy markets remain the dominant macro story. Brent crude slipped over 1% to just under $113 per barrel overnight, with WTI around $104, reversing Monday's spike when WTI settled up 4.39% at $106.42 and Brent surged 5.8% to $114.44.
The catalyst driving volatility in energy is the ongoing Strait of Hormuz standoff. President Trump posted on Truth Social Sunday that the US would attempt to "free" ships stranded by the Hormuz closure since the start of the Iran war. Tensions escalated further Monday when the UAE said it had successfully intercepted multiple missiles fired from Iran, including three "loitering munitions" over its territorial waters and a fourth that fell into the sea.
Precious metals have firmed up, with gold at over $4,550 (up 0.41%) and silver up 0.85% at over $74, as traders reacted to geopolitical tensions and a mixed dollar.
Forex: Dollar Mixed, Yen Pinned Near 157
The dollar showed mixed sentiment, heading into the New York session. EUR/USD edged lower against the dollar, GBP/USD at 1.3543 (up 0.08%), and USD/JPY at 157.62 (up 0.24%). The yen remains in focus after recent intervention chatter — it had briefly breached 160, hitting a two-year high of 160.72, before pulling back to around 156.56 on reports of Tokyo intervention last Friday.
The 10-year Treasury yield moved down to 4.432%, down 1.4 points, with traders reacting to the Iran headlines and the interest rate outlook.
Stocks to Watch
Palantir (PLTR) shares fell over 2.5% despite the data analytics company reporting a beat-and-raise first quarter.
AMD (AMD) is scheduled to report after Tuesday's close and traders would closely watch its earnings, given semiconductor stocks rising in 22 out of the past 23 sessions. Wall Street expects EPS of $1.29 (+34.4% YoY) on revenue of $9.89 billion (+33.0% YoY). The stock enters earnings up 65.5% year-to-date through April 30, though it slipped nearly 5% on Monday after HSBC downgraded it to Hold on concerns about tight semiconductor capacity in 2026.
What to Watch Into the Open
- Crude price action and any fresh Strait of Hormuz headlines
- USD/JPY near 157 for signs of renewed Tokyo intervention
- 349 companies are scheduled to report earnings Tuesday, headlined by AMD after the bell
- The 10-year Treasury yield, testing the upper end of its recent range as oil-driven inflation expectations climb
- US trade balance, JOLTS survey results and service sector purchasing managers' index readings
