How Are Nasdaq, Dow, S&P 500 Futures Reacting As US Launches Fresh Strike On Iran?

U.S. stock futures were falling in the overnight session late Sunday after the U.S. attacked two Iranian rocket launchers at Larak Island in Iran in the Strait of Hormuz, the first known American strikes since late July.

Nasdaq-100 futures fell 0.64%, while Dow futures and S&P 500 declined 0.33% and 0.44%, respectively, at 9:53 PM EDT.

On Friday, all three benchmark indexes closed lower. The Nasdaq Composite led the decline, losing nearly 140 points to end 0.52% down. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 fell 0.02% and 0.25%, respectively.

All three indexes are poised to end the month higher, bolstered by a rise in technology share prices.

Geopolitics are back in the center stage over the weekend after the U.S. struck two Iranian rocket launchers late Sunday.

Brigadier General Hossein Mohebi, the spokesperson for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), has said, as per the IRNA agency in a post on X, “This action, the terrorist enemy's incursion on Larak Island, constitutes a strategic and fatal error by the Trump administration amid its ongoing economic warfare. It is an error that will tip the balance against its perpetrators and entail severe repercussions. The adversary will face the ramifications of this faulty calculus across both the economic and military arenas.”

⁠Iran ⁠has reportedly responded by striking ​U.S. forces in ‌Jordan, ⁠a Fox ⁠News report said, which cited a ⁠U.S. source. However, no significant damage has been caused so far, with nearly all incoming missiles intercepted, according to the report.

The U.S. Central Command said in a post on X that IRGC’s claims that the U.S. strikes were an act of aggression are “absolutely FALSE.” It said that the fact is that “U.S. forces took limited, precise action against IRGC minelaying forces posing an imminent threat in the Strait of Hormuz. In essence, Iran created the threat and the U.S. military eliminated it to protect civilian mariners, commercial shipping, and the free flow of global commerce.”

The strikes pushed global oil prices higher as concerns over constrained energy resources re-emerged.

Brent crude futures expiring in November briefly topped $90 a barrel and were up about 1.32% to trade at $89.26 a barrel at the time of writing. Meanwhile, WTI crude futures expiring in October were trading at $84.38 per barrel.

The attacks come amid a strong month for U.S. stock markets, which gained significantly in August following a slew of optimistic results from technology companies like Nvidia Corp. (NVDA), Salesforce Inc. (CRM), Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), among others.

“Big Tech dominated earnings season: The S&P 500's total market cap has surged +$1.75 trillion since Q2 earnings season began on July 13th. The Technology sector alone accounts for +$1.39 trillion of that gain, or ~79% of the total,” The Kobeissi Letter said in a post on X over the weekend. “Big Tech has never been bigger,” it added.