U.S. stock futures were near the flat line on Monday night as Wall Street assessed the impact and risks of a protracted conflict from the Israel-Hamas war.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures traded lower by 2 points, or 0.01%. Futures linked to the S&P 500 ticked down 0.01%, while Nasdaq 100 futures added 0.05%.
During Monday’s trading session, stocks were initially lower – with the Nasdaq falling more than 1% during its session lows — before turning positive across the board. The 30-stock Dow added 197 points, or 0.59%, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.4%. The S&P 500 added 0.6%.
Amid the conflict, West Texas Intermediate crude and Brent popped more than 4% for their best days since April. Energy and defense stocks also surged.
Hamas’ attack against Israel marks the deadliest offensive in 50 years. At least 900 Israelis have been killed thus far in what Hamas is calling Operation Al Aqsa Flood, with more than 687 Palestinians dead in retaliatory Israeli strikes across the Gaza Strip, according to the latest figures.
Hamas is a designated terrorist group backed by Iran that has governed the Gaza Strip since 2007.
“Of course, it’s going to send some jitters to markets. But what we have seen over time is that typically, the impact in the longer run from geopolitical events tends to be somewhat contained,” Meera Pandit, global market strategist at JPMorgan Asset Management, said on CNBC’s “Closing Bell” on Monday.
In the wake of the attacks, investors have also raised concerns of how tougher sanctions on Iran could affect global oil supply.
Tightened sanctions on Iran and subsequent disruptions to Iran’s oil supply “would have more of an impact on oil markets,” said BMO Capital Markets chief investment officer Yung-Yu Ma.
“I think the oil markets have a little bit of a buffer here. Even just a couple of weeks ago, we were still about 5% higher than [now]. … But there’s a risk out there of the developments, in a situation like this, [that] are very difficult to predict,” Ma said.
Investors will be keeping an eye on upcoming economic data. The NFIB Small Business Survey data from September will be released Tuesday, as well as August’s wholesale inventories numbers. Wall Street will also be closely watching PepsiCo’s quarterly earnings results Tuesday before the bell.
