Washington: Wall Street is likely to start the second week of March in the red on Monday (US time). The Dow Jones futures — an early indicator of the US stock markets — traded lower after crude oil prices climbed above $110 per barrel.
S&P 500 futures were down about 1 per cent, while Nasdaq 100 futures slipped around 1.1 per cent, reflecting persistent risk aversion in global markets.
Dow Jones Futures were trading at 46,964.86, down 536.69 points or 1.13 per cent ahead of Wall Street’s opening on Monday.
Earlier in the session, futures had fallen more sharply before recovering slightly. Oil prices dropped back to about $110 per barrel after The Financial Times reported that the Group of Seven finance ministers would discuss the release of petroleum reserves in coordination with the International Energy Agency (IEA).
Last week, the US market’s three major indices — the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500, and Nasdaq Composite — closed in negative territory on Friday.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell around 1 per cent to 47,501.55, marking its biggest weekly decline since early April 2025.
Meanwhile, the S&P 500 declined more than 1 per cent to 6,740.00 points, recording its steepest weekly drop since mid-October, while the Nasdaq Composite slipped 1.6 per cent to 22,387.68.
Tensions in the Middle East escalated after Iran announced its new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of the late Ali Khamenei.
Notably, crude oil prices have surged by about 50 per cent since the US and Israel launched joint strikes on Iran on February 28.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump defended the spike in oil prices, saying higher crude costs were a temporary consequence of confronting Iran’s nuclear threat.
“Short-term oil prices, which will drop rapidly when the destruction of the Iran nuclear threat is over, is a very small price to pay for USA and world safety and peace,” Trump wrote on the social media platform Truth Social.
The jump marks one of the biggest weekly gains in oil futures trading since the early 1980s.
(IANS)
