U.S. stock index futures trimmed early losses on Sunday evening after Iran flagged some progress in weekend peace talks held in Switzerland.
Futures had initially tumbled on fears of heightened tensions with Iran after President Donald Trump threatened more strikes against the country despite ongoing peace talks.
S&P 500 Futures fell 0.4% to 7,539.25 points by 22:45 ET (02:45 GMT). Nasdaq 100 Futures fell 0.4% to 30,592.0 points, while Dow Jones Futures fell 0.3% to 51,848.0 points.
Futures fell after Wall Street clocked a positive close on Thursday amid optimism over the U.S. and Iran agreeing to a framework peace deal. A rally in chipmaking stocks, amid continued optimism over artificial intelligence, also boosted Wall Street.
Markets were closed for the Juneteenth holiday on Friday.
Iran touts progress in Switzerland talks; more negotiations on tap
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi touted "major progress" in talks held in Switzerland earlier in the day, especially towards ending the Lebanon war.
Separately, statements from Pakistani and Qatari mediators also flagged "encouraging progress" in U.S.-Iran talks, and that both sides had committed to more technical discussions in the coming days.
The upbeat comments came afterTrump on Sunday threatened to attack Iran if it did not stop Lebanese group Hezbollah, which it backs, from “causing trouble.”
Hezbollah was engaged in a bitter conflict with Israel in Southern Lebanon, and has been a key point of contention in ongoing peace efforts.
Trump’s comments came even as U.S. and Iranian officials held talks in Switzerland over a framework deal to end the war. But Iranian media reported that the country’s delegation had left the venue after Trump’s latest threats.
Iran’s Tasnim news agency reported that the country’s delegation to Switzerland refused to return to quadrilateral talks following Trump’s threats. But messages were still exchanged through Pakistani and Qatari mediators.
The U.S. and Iran agreed to a 14-point memorandum of understanding to end their war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz last week. But Lebanon’s inclusion in the ceasefire remained a key point of contention, especially as Israel vowed to continue attacking what it described as Hezbollah targets in Southern Lebanon.
Iran accused the U.S. and Israel of violating their deal over the attacks on Lebanon. Reports over the weekend showed Tehran had closed the Strait of Hormuz after briefly allowing some traffic through the waterway last week.
Conflicting signals on U.S.-Iran talks underscored the fragility of their recent MoU, and raised doubts over whether a comprehensive peace deal will even be possible.
The U.S. and Iran committed to 60 days of talks over Tehran’s nuclear ambitions. But tensions in the Middle East remained high.
Wall St upbeat on tech gains; PMIs, PCE data on tap
Wall Street closed higher on Thursday, aided chiefly by technology and chipmaking stocks amid continued bets that AI will boost the sector in the long term.
The S&P 500 rose 0.55%, the NASDAQ Composite rose 1.9%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.1%, with all three indexes closing in sight of recent record highs.
Focus this week will be on a string of readings on the U.S. economy. Purchasing managers index data for May and a revised gross domestic product print for the first quarter are due in the coming days.
PCE price index data for May is also due later this week, and will be closely watched for more cues on inflation. The print is the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge.
source https://www.investing.com/news/stock-market-news/us-stock-futures-slide-after-trump-threatens-more-iran-strikes-despite-peace-talks-4751694
