Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., Aug. 7, 2026.
Jeenah Moon | Reuters
Stock futures were little changed in overnight trading Monday as investors weighed signs of progress toward reopening the Strait of Hormuz against lingering doubts that the U.S. and Iran can reach a broader resolution to the conflict
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were down 37 points. S&P 500 futures were marginally lower, while Nasdaq 100 futures traded near the flatline
In Asia, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index futures edged higher, compared to the index’s last close of 25,937.49. Futures for Australia’s benchmark S&P/ASX 200 were little changed. Japan markets are closed for a holiday
The moves come after the S&P 500 finishedMondaylittle changed as uncertainty over the Middle East conflict continued to hang over markets
Iran has said it is closing in on a deal with Oman to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, but Tehran has continued to resist direct negotiations with the U.S. until several conditions are met
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Sunday there was “no possibility of restarting negotiations” as long as the U.S. continues violating the June memorandum of understanding and does not compensate Iran for those violations, according to the semi-official Tasnim News Agency
Oil prices jumped Monday as uncertainty over the conflict persisted. West Texas Intermediate crude futures settled 5.1% higher at $82.13 a barrel, while international benchmark Brent crude climbed 5% to $87.72
Investors will next turn to a key batch of inflation data, with the July consumer price report due Wednesday and the producer price index out Thursday. The readings could prove particularly important after a weak jobs report complicated the Fed’s outlook
The inflation reports could put the Fed in a difficult position. Higher oil prices are renewing concerns about price pressures just as the sharp slowdown in hiring raises questions about the strength of consumer spending and the broader economy
Stocks got a boost at the end of last week after the July employment report showed an unexpected contraction in nonfarm payrolls, raising expectations that the Fed could hold interest rates steady for longer. Fed funds futures traders now see roughly a 50% chance of a September rate hike, down from 67% a week earlier
“The silver lining of a weaker July labor report is that it likely gives policymakers some breathing room to keep interest rates steady,” said Brent Schutte, CIO at Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Company. “We’ve seen the Federal Reserve favor the labor side of their mandate repeatedly over the last few years, so despite continued elevated inflation levels it would not be surprising if the Fed were to proceed with caution against hiking interest rates when the last two labor market readings have been somewhat weak.”
On the earnings front, healthcare products company Cardinal Health and sneaker manufacturer On Holdings are slated to report earnings Tuesday morning. Results for Cava Group, CoreWeave and Super Micro Computer will be out in the afternoon
16 Min Ago
Gold climbs as Asia demand bolsters outlook
Spot gold prices rose 0.51% to $4,411 an ounce on Tuesday, while silver jumped over 1% to $65.9 per ounce
Simon-Peter Massabni, head of business development at online trading broker XS, said gold’s rally was increasingly being underpinned by structural changes in Asian demand, rather than solely by traditional drivers such as inflation, dollar weakness and geopolitical uncertainty
“The key question is no longer whether Asian demand for gold will continue, but rather how significantly this demand could reshape the global gold market,” Massabni said in a note late Monday
He pointed to the expansion of gold trading and storage infrastructure, new investment products and growing exchange-traded fund holdings across Asia as signs that the precious metal was becoming more deeply embedded in regional portfolios
“If this trend continues, I believe we could see a gradual shift in the center of gravity of global gold trading toward the East over the coming years,” Massabni said, adding that easier access to gold through digital banking platforms could broaden the investor base and “provide an additional layer of support for gold demand even during periods of price correction.”
37 Min Ago
Yen gives back half of intervention gains as DBS warns ‘episodic’ action won’t work
The yen traded at 159.24 against the dollar on Tuesday, having surrendered about half of the gains from the recent U.S.-Japan intervention to support it
DBS economists said the yen’s renewed weakness underscored the limits of intervention, particularly as the currency has failed to benefit from a narrowing in U.S.-Japan interest-rate differentials
Yen performance year-to-date
Between October 2025 and July, the rate spread narrowed by about 75 basis points, yet the yen weakened roughly 10%, the bank noted. “Perhaps the spread needs to narrow further, perhaps more market friendly measures are needed to bring back resident flows to Japan,” DBS said in a note dated Tuesday
“Episodic interventions will not do the trick, in our view.”
— Lee Ying Shan
2 Hours Ago
Chinese equities look attractive from a risk-reward perspective: UBS
Chinese equities are becoming attractive as investors rotate into markets that lagged the strong first-half rallies in South Korea and Taiwan
Suresh Tantia, the firm’s head CIO of Asia equity strategy, pointed to renewed flows into Chinese semiconductor stocks and domestically oriented companies, saying that relatively cheap valuations make the market appealing
“We do think that in the short term, from a risk-reward perspective, it does make a lot of sense for investors to position into China equity market given the cheap valuation,” Tantia told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia.”
China’s CSI 300 was down 0.46%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was little changed on Tuesday
— Lee Ying Shan
4 Hours Ago
Anthropic reportedly inks $9 billion deal with Riot Platforms, Bloomberg reports
Anthropic, the company behind AI product Claude, reportedly struck a deal worth $9 billion with Riot Platforms, a digital infrastructure and bitcoin mining company, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter
The report said the deal highlighted Anthropic’s efforts to secure enough computing capacity to meet its customers’ demand
Riot disclosed earlier on Monday that it had secured a 20-year data center lease deal to supply 191 megawatts of capacity from its Rockdale campus to a “leading frontier AI” company
Riot shares fell 5.46% in after-hours trading on the Nasdaq.Â
— Jenny Lee
5 Hours Ago
South Korean stocks open lower, Aussie shares edge higher
Asia-Pacific markets opened mixed Tuesday, as worries of a prolonged disruption to energy flows
The Kospi was down 0.76%, while the small-cap Kosdaq lost 1.4%. Australia’s benchmark S&P/ASX 200 edged up 0.15%
Japan markets were closed for the holiday
— Lee Ying Shan
5 Hours Ago
Asia markets set for subdued open as hopes of a U.S.-Iran deal fade
Asia-Pacific markets appeared set for a subdued open Tuesday as investors assessed the latest Middle East developments that have sent oil prices higher
Hong Kong Hang Seng index futures were 25,966, compared to the index’s last close of 25,937.49
In Australia, futures for the S&P/ASX 200 last traded at 9,178, while the index closed at 9,232.6
Japanese markets were closed for a holiday
— Lee Ying Shan
7 Hours Ago
Hims & Hers Health falls after posting a quarterly loss
Shares of Hims & Hers Health slipped almost 6% after rising expenses pushed the telehealth company into a second-quarter loss. The company reported a net loss of 37 cents per share, compared with net income of 17 cents per share, a year earlier
The company raised its full-year revenue outlook, however
— Yun Li
7 Hours Ago
Riot Platforms shares climb after quarterly report
Riot Platforms shares popped over 12% in extended trading after the crypto miner reported a 14% year-over-year increase in total revenue for the latest quarter
The company also said it produced 1,587 bitcoin last quarter, compared to 1,426 during the same three-month period in 2025
— Yun Li
7 Hours Ago
Plug Power shares jump 8% after strong results
Plug Power saw shares jump 8% in extended trading after the electrical equipment manufacturing company posted a narrower-than-expected loss and stronger-than-expected revenue for the latest quarter
The firm also said it aims to strengthen liquidity through additional non-dilutive financing initiatives this year, including unlocking the incremental proceeds for a $275 million total target through its data center asset monetization initiatives
— Yun Li
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