Wall Street mixed early ahead of tech earnings while Iran talks are at an impasse

Storm clouds form above the New York Stock Exchange building in New York City. (AP Photo/J. David Ake)

Trading on Wall Street was quietly mixed early Monday and oil prices crept up again as talks on ending the war with Iran remained at an impasse.

Futures for the S&P 500 are flat before the opening bell, while futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 0.1 per cent. Nasdaq futures rose 0.2 per cent.

Two Middle Eastern officials said Iran was offering to end its chokehold over the Strait of Hormuz without addressing its nuclear program, while requesting that the U.S. end its blockade of Iran. U.S. President Donald Trump is unlikely to support the proposal, which was conveyed to the U.S. through Pakistan. He wants Iran’s nuclear program closed down as part of a broader deal to end the war.

Disruptions to shipping through the strait have pushed oil prices sharply higher since the war began.

• Real-time TSX market updates here

The price for a barrel of Brent crude to be delivered in July inched up 57 cents to US$99.70 after eclipsing $100 overnight. U.S. benchmark crude oil added 25 cents to $94.65 per barrel.

After coming off their highs in recent weeks, the cost of gasoline in the U.S. is again markedly higher than it was the previous week. The average price for a gallon of regular gasoline was $4.11 on Monday, 7 cents more than a week ago, and almost $1 more than last year at this time.

This week will bring decisions on interest rates by top central banks, including the Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank, the Bank of Japan and the Bank of England. A big batch of potentially market-moving data is also due, including the Fed’s preferred measure of inflation, the latest U.S. economic growth report and the Conference Board’s consumer confidence survey.

The S&P 500 has leaped nearly 13 per cent in a little under a month, boosted most recently by strong corporate earnings reports that have helped propel markets to all-time highs.

Reporting this week are tech heavyweights Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, Microsoft and Apple. Coca-Cola, General Motors and Ford also issue their most recent quarterly results in the coming days.

Also Monday, China blocked Meta’s acquisition of the artificial intelligence startup Manus, which has Chinese roots but is Singapore-based.

China’s top planning agency said it was prohibiting a foreign acquisition of Manus and had required all the parties to withdraw from the deal. Meta said the deal fully complied with the law and that it expected a “appropriate resolution” to the inquiry.

Meta shares were effectively unchanged by the news.

In midday European trading, Germany’s DAX picked up 0.9 per cent, while the CAC 40 in Paris rose 0.7 per cent. Britain’s FTSE 100 gained 0.3 per cent.

In Asian trading, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 surged 1.4 per cent to 60,537.36 after touching a new intraday high of 60,903.95. The Kospi in South Korea jumped two per cent to 6,615.03.

• S&P 500 market updates here

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index shed 0.1 per cent to 25,964.27 and the Shanghai Composite index gained 0.2 per cent to 4,086.34.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.2 per cent to 8,766.40.

Taiwan’s Taiex rallied 1.8 per cent, helped by a revival of buying of tech shares driven by the boom in artificial intelligence. India’s Sensex added 0.8 per cent.

Elaine Kurtenbach and Matt Ott, The Associated Press