U.S. stock futures were little changed late Tuesday as investors reacted to lower oil prices and easing bond yields, with hopes growing for possible de-escalation in the war between the U.S. and Iran.
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 14 points, or 0.03%. S&P 500 futures added 0.02%, while Nasdaq-100 futures rose 0.1%.
In regular Tuesday trading, the Dow slipped 0.4%, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.5% for its fourth straight positive session. The tech-heavy index set a fresh intraday all-time high and closed at a record. The S&P 500 finished marginally lower, but remains about 0.7% below its own record high.
In Asia-Pacific trading, South Korea’s Kospi rose 1.79% at the open and the small-cap Kosdaq added 0.84%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was up 0.34%. Japan’s markets were closed for a holiday.
Brett Ewing, chief market strategist at First Franklin Financial Services, told CNBC that he believes the S&P 500 could reach 8,200 before year-end. He said the firm’s target had started the year at 8,000 and was raised in August to 8,200.
President Donald Trump said Tuesday that U.S. and Iranian officials held a three-hour meeting during the annual United Nations General Assembly gathering in New York. He called it a “very good meeting.” Earlier in the day, speaking at the U.N., Trump said he faced a “big decision” on whether to reach a deal with Tehran or “annihilate” the country.
Oil prices moved slightly lower, with both Brent crude and West Texas Intermediate down roughly 1% in the session.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the U.S. is weighing whether to ban diesel exports. According to AAA, the national average diesel price has reached $6.53 per gallon. Bessent said officials are assessing whether such a move is feasible given overall refining capacity and whether a full or partial ban could work.
Investors will also be watching Wednesday earnings from General Mills, Paychex and H.B. Fuller.
Asia markets opened higher
Asia-Pacific markets also moved higher early Wednesday as the U.S.-Iran talks boosted hopes for a diplomatic solution to the Middle East conflict and improved investor sentiment.
Hong Kong also pointed to firmer trading, with Hang Seng index futures at 25,133 versus the index’s previous close of 25,087.75. Futures for Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 were last at 8,822, compared with the index’s close at 8,757.80.
Ewing also said the Cboe Volatility Index, or VIX, at 14.21 appeared relatively low given the uncertainty around the Iran war and a new Federal Reserve rate-hiking cycle. In his view, the market remains notably calm despite those risks.
Notable after-hours movers
In extended trading, shares of Worthington Enterprises surged about 16% after management issued an upbeat outlook. CEO Joe Hayek said the company is seeing opportunities across its businesses, including rapidly growing demand for its engineered ASME tanks used in liquid cooling systems for data centers. First-quarter adjusted earnings and revenue both topped LSEG estimates.
KB Home fell 2% after its fourth-quarter delivery forecast came in below expectations. Housing gross margins for the current quarter are expected in a range of 16% to 16.6%, while analysts polled by LSEG were looking for 17.2%.
IonQ jumped 11% after saying it had tested the industry’s first real-time quantum error decoder. The company said the new capability allows quantum error correction across operations without slowing execution time.
