U.S. equity futures advanced Monday, supported by a pullback in crude prices while investors assessed fresh geopolitical tension and the Federal Reserve’s first rate increase in three years. The move offered a firmer start after a difficult week for blue-chip stocks and rising expectations for additional monetary tightening.
At 4:24 p.m. (Bangkok time), contracts tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.6%, following the index’s third consecutive weekly decline. S&P 500 futures also rose 0.63%, while Nasdaq-100 futures gained 1.08%, indicating stronger early demand for technology-linked shares.
Energy prices provided some support for sentiment. Brent crude futures slipped 1.85% to $101.95 a barrel on Monday, while contracts linked to U.S. West Texas Intermediate Crude dropped 1.74% to $98.55. Oil fell back below $100 a barrel as investors monitored signs that Washington and Tehran could return to diplomatic discussions.
At the same time, the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield remained near 5%, keeping borrowing-cost pressures in focus for markets.
Geopolitical concerns remained elevated after Iran-backed Houthi forces said they launched missile and drone strikes against Saudi Arabia on Saturday. Later that day, the U.S. State Department advised Americans to rethink travel to the Middle East as threats between Washington and Tehran raised concerns about renewed attacks.
Monetary policy also stayed central to trading. The Federal Reserve raised interest rates last week for the first time in three years, responding to persistent inflation and high bond yields. Following the decision, traders moved quickly to factor in the possibility of further rate increases.
The market focus now shifts to a summit this week between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping. The agenda is expected to include tariffs, critical minerals, artificial intelligence and other economic issues. Ahead of the meeting, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent held discussions with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng.
Technology executives are also expected to take part in a dinner with the Chinese president, including Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, former Apple CEO Tim Cook, Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.
The meeting comes as major AI companies face renewed scrutiny over the pace of advanced model development, following an essay by Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei that intensified debate inside the sector.
Technology shares in the U.S. and Asia edged higher Monday after Bessent described weekend preparatory talks with his Chinese counterpart as successful and suggested a U.S.-China dialogue on AI.
