Oct 12 (Reuters) – Wall St futures were little changed on Monday as investors monitored oil prices and geopolitical developments ahead of key bank earnings and inflation data due this week that could influence the US Federal Reserve’s interest-rate path.
Oil prices swung between gains and losses after President Donald Trump said Ukraine and Russia had agreed to halt attacks on each other’s energy facilities following a US diesel-supply deal with Moscow. Details of the agreement were not clear, however, and the plan faces opposition in Washington. [O/R]
The Middle East conflict also kept Brent crude above $100 a barrel after deadly strikes on Riyadh’s international airport over the weekend.
“Any hope that Trump’s deal with Putin might help bring down prices has been negated by the flare-up in the Houthi conflict,” said Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG.
“While earnings season will be a key driver this week, investors should expect oil news to keep making headlines, weighing heavily on sentiment.”
Earnings season begins on Tuesday, with major US banks including Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase scheduled to report first.
S&P 500 earnings are expected to jump 30.6% in the third quarter, according to LSEG IBES data.
At 05:36 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis rose 42 points, or 0.08%, S&P 500 E-minis added 9.75 points, or 0.12%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis fell 14.75 points, or 0.05%.
All three major indexes ended higher last week on optimism around an AI-driven third-quarter earnings season and hope that the Fed may avoid near-term rate hikes offsetting sharp swings in oil and Treasury markets.
Treasury yields climbed to 24-year highs earlier this month as elevated energy prices stoked concerns inflation could remain sticky, potentially keeping policymakers hawkish and pressuring equity valuations.
The US Treasury market is closed for Columbus Day.
Investors will also be watching this week’s US consumer and producer price data as well as retail sales figures. Higher energy prices are expected to push headline CPI up 0.6% on the month and 3.7% annually, while core inflation is seen rising at a more modest 0.2% monthly and 2.5% annually.
Markets are pricing in just a 19% chance the central bank will raise interest rates this month, according to CME’s FedWatch tool.
In premarket movers, IREN’s shares jumped 5.4% after The Information reported Anthropic had entered into a multi-year cloud deal with the data-center firm.
(Reporting by Ragini Mathur in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai)
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