U.S. futures dip, Brent moves higher, amid fresh strikes across Middle East

U.S. stock futures dropped on Tuesday, as investors gauged ongoing strikes across the Middle East as well as contrasting U.S. and Iranian accounts about potential talks to end their nearly month-old conflict.

By 06:33 ET (10:33 GMT), the Dow futures contract had slid by 101 points, or 0.2%, S&P 500 futures had dipped by 9 points, or 0.2%, and Nasdaq 100 futures had fallen by 19 points, or 0.1%.

The major averages on Wall Street climbed in the prior session. Sentiment was buoyed by President Donald Trump’s announcement of a temporary delay to impending U.S. strikes on Iranian power plants following conversations he described as “very strong.”

However, the speaker of Iran’s parliament rejected the claim, accusing Trump of rolling out the comment to help soothe volatile financial markets.

“Markets are walking a tightrope between fragile optimism and escalating geopolitical risks. The Middle East remains the dominant driver, with oil prices highly sensitive to any supply disruption. As tensions persist, volatility is likely to stay elevated, keeping investors cautious,” Lukman Otunuga, Senior Market Analyst at FXTM, told Investing.com.

Analysts at Vital Knowledge added that while investors remain skeptical the war will come to an end anytime soon, the rally in the benchmark S&P 500 may have “further to run.”