Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange during morning trading on April 17, 2026 in New York City.
Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images
Stock futures jumped on Monday night as oil prices slid and hope grew that a resolution to the U.S.-Iran war was within reach.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures popped 427 points, or 0.8%. S&P 500 futures gained 0.9%, and Nasdaq-100 futures advanced 1.3%. U.S. stock markets were closed Monday due to the Memorial Day holiday.
President Donald Trump said Monday that talks with Iran to end the war were “proceeding nicely.” That said, he did warn the U.S. could go on the offensive if negotiations break down.
Crude prices dropped sharply following Trump’s comments. West Texas Intermediate futures were down around 6%.
The S&P 500 climbed 0.9% last week to notch its longest weekly winning streak since late 2023. The Dow climbed 2.1%, marking its third weekly gain in four weeks. The Nasdaq rose 0.5% last week, its seventh in eight weeks.
“There is no doubt that fundamentals are at least partially responsible for the market rally,” wrote Adam Parker, founder of Trivariate Research. “With earnings projected to grow 23% this year, and 16% next year, there’s a credible argument to make that despite the increasing projections for earnings, and strong earnings growth, the price-to-forward earnings has been modestly contracting.”
A decline in oil prices also boosted equities last week. U.S. crude lost 8.4%, marking its worst week since April 17.
However, with crude still trading well above the levels seen earlier in the year – and price pressures remaining elevated – investor expectations for easier Federal Reserve policy have been tempered. In fact, traders are pricing in an 8.5% chance of a rate hike in July, up from 0.9% a month ago, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch tool.