Key facts
- US stock indexes were set for a muted open on Monday.
- Brent crude futures rose to their highest level in about two weeks, trading at more than $106 a barrel.
- Major US banks are scheduled to report first-quarter earnings this week.
- US consumer and producer price data, as well as retail sales figures, will be released this week.
- Markets are pricing in a 19% chance the US Federal Reserve will raise interest rates this month.
US stock indexes were on track for a muted open on Monday as investors watched oil prices and global events ahead of crucial bank earnings and inflation data due later in the week that are widely expected to influence the central bank's rate path.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 92 points, or 0.18%, at the open to 51,746.95. The S&P 500 rose 4.18 points, or 0.05%, at the open to 7,815.72, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 12.89 points, or 0.05%, to 27,353.28 at the opening bell.
Brent crude futures rose to their highest level in about two weeks, trading at more than $106 a barrel after deadly strikes on Riyadh's international airport over the weekend. The rise was contained, however, after President Donald Trump said Ukraine and Russia had agreed to halt attacks on each other's energy facilities following a US diesel-supply deal with Moscow. Details of the agreement were not clear and the plan faces opposition in Washington.
Earnings season begins on Tuesday, with major US banks including Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase scheduled to report first. S&P 500 earnings are expected to jump 30.6% in the third quarter, according to LSEG IBES data.
"The big themes to watch in earnings season include how companies are deploying and profiting from AI," said Clark Bellin, president and chief investment officer, Bellwether Wealth. "Whether they are able to maintain or raise pricing power, and how they are navigating the surge in borrowing costs, which is a dynamic that companies did not have to grapple with one year ago."
In premarket movers, IREN's shares rose 3.5% after The Information reported Anthropic had entered into a multi-year cloud deal with the data-center firm. Quantum computing firm IonQ's shares slipped 4% after the company said it had struck an all-stock deal to buy privately held cybersecurity firm Elisity in a transaction valued at up to $1.3 billion. Salesforce gained 4% after BofA Global Research double-upgraded its rating to "buy" from "underperform".