U.S. stocks look set for a mixed opening on Tuesday, with the Dow Jones and S&P 500 futures edging lower, while futures of the Nasdaq 100 index rose, following Monday’s lower close.
Oil prices rose amid ongoing indirect negotiations between Washington and Tehran. While Iran expects a U.S. response “hopefully” by Tuesday, President Donald Trump dismissed reports of potential sanctions relief as a “HOAX,” insisting he has offered “NOTHING.”
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei warned that “it won’t be long before the Arabian Sea rids itself of their presence too” following “painful blows” dealt by “the valiant [Iranian] fighters.”
Meanwhile, the 10-year Treasury bond yielded 5.24%, and the 2-year Treasury bond yielded 4.94%, at the last check. The CME Group’s FedWatch tool projections show markets pricing in a 72.5% likelihood of the Federal Reserve hiking interest rates after its October meeting.
| Index | Performance (+/-) |
| Dow Jones | -0.15% |
| S&P 500 | -0.02% |
| Nasdaq 100 | 0.14% |
| Russell 2000 | -0.08% |
The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) and Invesco QQQ Trust ETF (NASDAQ:QQQ), which track the S&P 500 index and Nasdaq 100 index, respectively, were mixed in premarket on Tuesday. The SPY was down 0.038% at $765.32, while the QQQ advanced 0.12% to $737.44.
Consumer staples and health care stocks bucked the overall market trend to close the session higher, while communication services, consumer discretionary, and financial stocks recorded the biggest losses on Monday as most S&P 500 sectors closed on a negative note.
| Index | Performance (+/-) | Value |
| Dow Jones | -0.67% | 51,481.51 |
| S&P 500 | -0.77% | 7,683.69 |
| Nasdaq Composite | -0.92% | 26,820.38 |
| Russell 2000 | -0.69% | 2,817.91 |
According to BlackRock’s weekly commentary, it remains “overweight U.S. and EM equities” because “strong corporate earnings, fueled by the AI buildout and a favorable macro backdrop, are outpacing higher interest rate expectations.”
Rather than broad market exposure or software-focused investments, the firm advises investors to “focus on AI bottleneck opportunities: power, chips and data centers.” This transition toward “physical AI” targets severe supply-demand imbalances, as the global infrastructure rollout is “speeding up, making bottlenecks binding.”
On the economic front, BlackRock suggests market fears regarding aggressive rate hikes are misplaced, noting that expectations for “further Fed tightening may be overstated.” Furthermore, a potential rate hike occurring alongside stronger economic growth is viewed as net good news for risk assets.
While slower labor supply growth may soften raw job gains, the firm expects hiring to remain near full employment levels. BlackRock anticipates this resilient labor market is “enough to keep wage pressures elevated and risk keeping inflation sticky,” creating a macroeconomic environment where long-term scarcity and power demand continue to carry persistent inflation risks.
Here’s what investors will be keeping an eye on Tuesday.
Crude Oil WTI futures edged higher in the early New York session, rising 0.08% to hover around $92.67 per barrel.
Gold Spot US Dollar rose 0.58% to hover around $4,139.29 per ounce. The U.S. Dollar Index spot was 0.15% higher at the 101.35 level.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) was trading 1.1% higher at $83,838 per coin over the last 24 hours.
Asian markets were lower on Tuesday, except China’s CSI 300 and Australia’s ASX 200 indices. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng, Japan’s Nikkei 225, South Korea’s Kospi, and India’s Nifty 50 indices fell. European markets were higher in early trading.
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