S&P 500, Dow, Nasdaq Futures Climb As US, Iran Reportedly Agree To Pause Further Escalation: SLS, WEN, MSTR, WDC Stocks In Focus

U.S. stock futures edged higher in the overnight session on Sunday, following reports that the U.S. and Iran have agreed to pause the exchange of strikes that escalated over the weekend and plan to meet Tuesday in Qatar to resume talks.

Fresh tensions broke out between the two nations after Tehran assumed responsibility for some attacks on commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday.

S&P 500 futures gained 0.45%, Dow futures were up 0.22%, and the Nasdaq 100 futures climbed 0.43% at 9:08 PM EDT.

The iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT) was trading down 0.15% amid ‘bullish’ sentiment.

U.S. stock markets had a mixed week ending Friday as investors rotated out of technology stocks and into other industries. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which is less exposed to tech, climbed about 0.62% at the end of the week. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq indexes shed 1.95% and 4.48%, respectively.

On Friday, all three benchmark indexes closed lower. The Dow shed about 60 points to close 0.09% down, the S&P 500 declined 0.05%, and the Nasdaq was also 0.24% lower at close.

Geopolitical tensions are back at the forefront after the U.S. and Iran exchanged fresh fire last week, reigniting fears of renewed tensions in the Strait of Hormuz and constrained energy supplies.

The conflict intensified since Thursday when Iran targeted a container ship, an oil vessel carrying Qatari crude, and military bases in Kuwait and Bahrain, triggering multiple U.S. retaliatory attacks.

“United States aircraft just struck Iranian missile and drone storage locations, and coastal radar sites, for violating the Cease Fire Agreement, AGAIN! It is very possible that they will never learn!” U.S. President Donald Trump said in a Truth Social post late Saturday.

“There may come a point when we are no longer able to be reasonable, and will be forced to militarily complete the job that we very successfully started. If that happens, the Islamic Republic of Iran will no longer exist!” he added.

The comments come just about 10 days after the two countries signed a ceasefire in Switzerland to end the conflict that has stretched on since the end of February.

Meanwhile, according to an Axios report from Sunday, Washington and Tehran have agreed to halt attacks and will meet on Tuesday in Qatar's capital to renegotiate terms following the dispute.