Futures tracking Wall Street's main indexes jumped Monday after Washington and Tehran reached a preliminary agreement to end the Iran war and reopen the crucial Strait of Hormuz, sending oil prices tumbling to a three-month low.
The framework for a deal, however, did not address sticking issues such as Iran's nuclear program and the conflict between Lebanon and Israel. The pact is expected to be formally signed in Switzerland on Friday.
"If the overnight news of a deal between the U.S. and Iran proves to be credible and lasting, this should be taken as a positive, whereas setbacks will likely be taken as less of a negative by risk assets," said Max Kettner, chief multi-asset strategist at HSBC Global Investment Research.
U.S. stock futures are sharply higher as of 6:57 a.m. EST, with Nasdaq futures leading the gains at +2.0%, while S&P 500 and Dow futures are up 1.23% and 0.85%, respectively. The broad rally suggests strong risk-on sentiment ahead of the market open, particularly in technology and growth stocks.
Chip stocks moved higher in premarket trading. Micron soared 8.2% after multiple brokerages raised its price target, while Nvidia was up 2.3%, Intel added 3.1% and Marvell Technology rose 5.4%.
Crude prices tumbled more than 4% to their lowest mark since March following the news, helping airlines and cruise stocks that are sensitive to energy prices.
United Airlines rose 4.4%, Delta Airlines added 4% and American Airlines gained 3.5%, while Norwegian Cruise and Carnival Corp added 4.3% and 3.6%, respectively.
Analysts warn that Brent crude prices could hover around $80 a barrel despite the resolution as energy flows resume through the Strait and Middle Eastern countries restore damaged infrastructure.
Data from the previous week indicated higher energy costs were filtering into consumer inflation, sharpening focus on the U.S. Federal Reserve's outlook at the monetary policy meeting later this week.
The yield on the benchmark two-year Treasury note , reflecting rate-cut expectations, slipped 7 basis points to a two-week low.
The CBOE Volatility Index, Wall Street's fear gauge, slipped to a more than one-week low at 16.66, after rising to a more than two-month high the previous week.
The Fed is expected to leave interest rates unchanged later this week; however, traders still expect the central bank to hike borrowing costs by at least 25 bps by the year-end, according to the CME Group's FedWatch tool.
SpaceX's shares rose 5.6% after the Elon Musk-led company ended its blockbuster IPO at a valuation of more than $2 trillion.
Markets were relieved by the smooth trading in SpaceX's landmark Nasdaq launch, setting a new template for firms and exchanges bracing for the giant IPOs of OpenAI and Anthropic later this year.
All three indexes ended the week higher despite AI shares being pressured early in the week. Analysts pointed to the tech sector's sensitivity to higher interest rates and potential positioning ahead of the SpaceX IPO as the drivers of the selloff.
Attention will turn this week to Fed Chair Kevin Warsh's first meeting at the helm, with investors gauging his communication style and looking to economic and interest-rate projections for hints on the rate path.
In other movers, Paramount Skydance's shares gained 4.7% after the U.S. Justice Department cleared the company's acquisition of Warner Bros.