Futures Pointing To Initial Pullback On Wall Street

(RTTNews) - The major U.S. index futures are currently pointing to a lower open on Tuesday, with stocks likely to give back ground after trending higher over the past few sessions.

The downward momentum on Wall Street comes as trader are keeping a close even on developments in the Middle East as an 8 pm ET deadline set by U.S. President Donald Trump approaches.

Trump has threatened to attack Iran's power plants and bridges if Tehran fails to reach a deal and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial global energy route.

Continuing to ramp up his rhetoric, Trump warned in a recent post on Truth Social, "A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don't want that to happen, but it probably will."

The president claimed that a "different, smarter, and less radicalized" regime is now in charge of Iran and suggested something revolutionarily wonderful can happen.

"WHO KNOWS?" Trump posted, adding to uncertainty on Wall Street. "We will find out tonight, one of the most important moments in the long and complex history of the World."

Stocks fluctuated over the course of the trading session on Monday but largely maintained a positive bias before ending the day mostly higher. With the upward move, the major averages added to the strong gains posted last week.

The major averages finished the day not far off their highs of the session. The Nasdaq advanced 117.16 points or 0.5 percent to 21,996.34, the S&P 500 climbed 29.14 points or 0.4 percent to 6,611.83 and the Dow rose 165.21 points or 0.4 percent to 46,669.88.

While the positive momentum from last week carried over, traders seemed reluctant to make more significant moves amid uncertainty about the U.S. war with Iran following President Donald Trump's latest threats.

In an expletive-laden Truth Social post Easter Sunday morning, Trump once again threatened to attack Iran's power plants and bridges unless the Strait of Hormuz is reopened by 8 pm ET on Tuesday.

Crude oil prices initially extended last Thursday's spike in reaction to Trump's comments but have given back ground since then amid reports of indirect talks between the U.S. and Iran about a potential ceasefire.

A report from Axios citing four U.S., Israeli and regional sources said the U.S., Iran and a group of regional mediators are discussing the terms for a potential 45-day ceasefire that could lead to a permanent end to the war.

Reuters also reported that the U.S. and Iran are weighing ?the framework of a plan to end the five-week-old conflict but noted Tehran has pushed back against pressure to swiftly reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

A source aware of the proposals told Reuters the Pakistani-brokered plan calls for an immediate ceasefire, followed by negotiations on a broader peace settlement to be concluded within 15 to 20 days.

However, a senior Iranian official told Reuters that Iran won't reopen the Strait of Hormuz as part of a temporary ceasefire, nor would it accept deadlines or pressure to reach a deal.

A White House official told CNBC that Trump has "not signed off" on the 45-day ceasefire proposal, although the president was not willing to provide much detail about the talks during a White House press conference.

Despite the advance by the broader markets, most of the major sectors showed only modest moves on the day.

Retail stocks showed a notable move to the upside, however, with the Dow Jones U.S. Retail Index climbing by 1.1 percent.

Transportation, semiconductor and brokerage stocks also saw some strength on the day, while pharmaceutical stocks moved to the downside.

Commodity, Currency Markets

Crude oil futures are surging $2.57 to $114.98 a barrel after advancing $0.87 to $112.41 a barrel on Monday. Meanwhile, after rising $5 to $4,684.70 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are inching up $1 to $4,685.70 an ounce.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 159.78 yen compared to the 159.68 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Monday. Against the euro, the dollar is trading at $1.1564 compared to yesterday's $1.1541.

Asia

Asian stocks ended mostly higher on Tuesday as major regional markets resumed trading after a long holiday weekend. Investors grew hopeful about a possible end to the Iran war as the 8 p.m. ET Tuesday deadline set by U.S. President Donald Trump approaches.

Trump broadened his warning against Iran to include potential strikes on infrastructure, such as power plants and bridges, if Tehran fails to reach a deal and the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial global energy route, is not reopened.

Gold dipped below $4,650 an ounce in Asian trading as the U.S. dollar index held above the 100 mark on reduced expectations of Federal Reserve rate cuts this year. Brent crude futures for June delivery were up 1.5 percent at $111.39 a barrel.

China's Shanghai Composite Index edged up by 0.3 percent to 3,890.16, with energy and chipmaking stocks rising as the U.N. Security Council prepares to vote on securing commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.

Japanese markets ended a choppy session on a flat note as the yen weakened toward 160 per dollar, prompting intervention and rate hike fears. The Nikkei 225 Index finished marginally higher at 53,429.56, while the broader Topix Index settled 0.3 percent higher at 3,654.02.

Seoul stocks rose notably, led by gains in technology shares. The Kospi advanced by 44.45 points, or 0.8 percent, to 5,494.78.

Chipmaker Samsung Electronics climbed 1.8 percent after reporting stellar earnings. The company projected its first-quarter earnings would exceed its entire profit for last year.

Australian markets rallied to reach a near four-week high due to short covering. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index jumped 1.7 percent to 8,728.80, led by heavyweight banks and mining stocks. The broader All Ordinaries Index closed up 1.7 percent at 8,921.20.

Across the Tasman, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX-50 Index ended up 1.3 percent at 13,069.66, hitting a three-week high.

Europe

European stocks are turning in a lackluster performance on Tuesday as traders keep a close even on developments in the Middle East as the 8 p.m. ET Tuesday deadline set by U.S. President Donald Trump approaches.

Trump broadened his warning against Iran to include potential strikes on infrastructure such as power plants and bridges, if Tehran fails to reach a deal and the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial global energy route, is not reopened.

The euro ticked higher against the dollar after private-sector activity growth across the eurozone in March was revised slightly higher.

According to final estimates from S&P Global, the eurozone composite purchasing managers' index was revised to 50.7 from the preliminary reading of 50.5 released two weeks ago.

Meanwhile, the U.K. PMI composite output index stood at 50.3 in March, down from February's 53.7.

While the French CAC 40 Index is up by 0.4 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is marginally lower and the German DAX Index is down by 0.1 percent.

Banks Commerzbank, Deutsche Bank, BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole and Societe Generale were up 1-2 percent.

Dutch lender ING rose 1.2 percent after ending an agreement to its Russian business. Universal Music Group shares soared 13 percent after Bill Ackman's Pershing Square Capital offered to buy the world's largest music company in a deal valued at about 55.75 billion ?euros ($64.31 billion).

Sanofi gained about 1 percent. The French drugmaker said that lunsekimig cleared the primary and key secondary goals in two Phase II studies evaluating the investigational bispecific pentavalent nanobody.

Hunting Plc, a precision engineering group, advanced 1.3 percent after winning almost $68 million of orders for a new offshore development in Guyana.

ASML Holding tumbled 2.8 percent after American lawmakers introduced a legislation that would restrict the sale of advanced semiconductor manufacturing equipment to China.

U.S. Economic News

Largely reflecting a steep drop in aircraft orders, the Commerce Department released a report on Tuesday showing new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods slumped by much more than expected in the month of February.

The Commerce Department said durable goods orders tumbled by 1.4 percent in February after falling by a revised 0.5 percent in January.

Economists had expected durable goods orders to decrease by 0.5 percent compared to the unchanged reading that had been reported for the previous month.

Excluding a steep drop in orders for transportation equipment, durable goods orders climbed by 0.8 percent in February after rising by 0.3 percent in January. Ex-transportation orders were expected to increase by 0.5 percent.

At 12:35 pm ET, Chicago Federal Reserve President Austan Goolsbee is due to participate in a moderated conversation and Q&A on the U.S. economy and monetary policy before the Detroit Economic Club.

The Treasury Department is scheduled to announce the results of this month's auction of $58 billion worth of three-year notes at 1 pm ET.

At 3 pm ET, the Federal Reserve is due to release its report on consumer credit in the month of February. Consumer credit is expected to increase by $12.0 billion.

Federal Reserve Vice Chair Philip Jefferson is scheduled speak on the economic outlook and the labor market at the University of Detroit Mercy College of Business Administration Charlton Center for Responsible Investing Speaker Series at 5:50 pm ET.