Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) before the closing bell on April 24, 2026 in New York.
Charlie Tribalew | AFP | Getty Images
Stock futures fell in overnight trading Sunday as stalled Iran peace talks and renewed tensions in the Strait of Hormuz pushed oil prices higher and geopolitical tensions remained at the forefront heading into a crucial week.
Futures, which track the Dow Jones Industrial Average, fell 0.2%, or 130 points. S&P 500 futures fell 0.3%, and Nasdaq 100 futures also fell 0.3%.
President Donald Trump on Saturday scrapped plans to send U.S. special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Pakistan to negotiate an Iran-related ceasefire, noting that talks could be conducted by phone.
“Wasted time traveling and too much work!” the president said in a post on Truth Social. “No one knows who’s in charge, including them. And we have all the cards and they don’t have any! If they want to talk, all they have to do is call!!!”
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Bakaei said there are no plans for talks between Iran and the United States at this time.
Tensions have escalated near the Strait of Hormuz after Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps boarded two container ships near the shipping lane, a key artery for the flow of global oil. West Texas Intermediate futures rose about 2% to more than $96 per barrel, and international benchmark Brent crude futures rose about 2% to more than $107 per barrel.
“While this is a modest negative, we continue to believe that the conflict is still on track to subside,” Vital Knowledge’s Adam Crisafulli said in a note.
On the corporate side, five of the Magnificent Seven companies are scheduled to report their results in the last week of April, further increasing bets on a market already priced in for strong growth.
All eyes will also be on Wednesday’s Fed policy decision, which could mark Jerome Powell’s final meeting as chairman before Kevin Warsh is scheduled to take over in May. The Justice Department decided Friday to drop its criminal investigation into Powell, and Sen. Thom Tillis ended his bid to block Warsh’s confirmation.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite ended last week at new record highs, continuing strong gains despite tensions in the Middle East and questions over record artificial intelligence spending. April is shaping up to be a strong recovery month for stocks. The S&P 500 index rose more than 9% and the Nasdaq index rose more than 15%. The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average is up more than 6% since the beginning of the month.
