U.S. stock futures advanced on Monday, as the Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 indices rose, following Friday’s mixed close.
Geopolitical tensions spiked over the weekend after President Donald Trump issued fresh warnings to Iran while Tehran threatened sustained retaliation against U.S. bases. Energy markets remain on high alert as persistent shipping restrictions in the Strait of Hormuz coincide with new Houthi drone and missile strikes on sensitive targets in Saudi Arabia.
With the Federal Reserve’s rate hike in the rearview, investors are turning their focus to earnings from major consumer-facing companies this week, like Costco Wholesale Corp. (NASDAQ:COST), General Mills Inc. (NYSE:GIS), and Darden Restaurants Inc. (NYSE:DRI) for insight into household spending strength. Markets will also be closely monitoring a circuit of speeches from five central bank officials for monetary policy clues, as well as Meta Platforms Inc.‘s (NASDAQ:META) developer conference for updates on its AI strategy.
Meanwhile, the 10-year Treasury bond yielded 4.96%, and the 2-year Treasury bond yielded 4.72%, at the last check. The CME Group’s FedWatch tool projections show markets pricing in a 53.1% likelihood of the Federal Reserve hiking interest rates after its October meeting.
| Index | Performance (+/-) |
| Dow Jones | 0.70% |
| S&P 500 | 0.66% |
| Nasdaq 100 | 1.05% |
| Russell 2000 | 0.57% |
The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) and Invesco QQQ Trust ETF (NASDAQ:QQQ), which track the S&P 500 index and Nasdaq 100 index, respectively, rose in premarket on Monday. The SPY was up 0.63% at $766.47, while the QQQ advanced 0.94% to $728.23.
Stocks In Focus
Accenture
- Accenture Plc (NYSE:ACN) rose 5.47% in premarket on Monday after it announced a partnership to establish a team of embedded evaluators at Anthropic.
- Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings indicate that ACN maintains a strong price trend in the short and medium terms but a weak trend in the long term, with a moderate quality score.
Lobo Technologies
- Lobo Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ:LOBO) jumped 26.98% in Monday premarket after reporting a strong year-over-year increase in its financial results during the first half of the current fiscal.
- Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings indicate that LOBO maintains a weak price trend in the short, medium, and long terms.
Apple
- Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) was 0.19% lower in premarket after it undertook another round of layoffs, according to a Bloomberg report. Jobs were slashed in its Fitness+ audio-content team.
- Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings indicate that AAPL maintains a strong price trend in the long, medium and short terms, with a moderate growth score.
Rocket Lab
- Rocket Lab Corp. (NASDAQ:RKLB) was 1.51% higher as it launched its 96th electron mission for Synspective, delivering the 12th StriX SAR satellite into a 572 km orbit. This marks its 17th launch in 2026.
- Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings indicate that RKLB maintains a weak price trend in the long, medium and short terms.
Marvell Technology
- Marvell Technology Inc. (NASDAQ:MRVL) rose 2.56% in premarket trading following momentum from last week, when the stock jumped nearly 5% after securing an expanded silicon-germanium chip capacity deal with GlobalFoundries for its AI data center connectivity products and launching a new Azure-integrated cloud payment security service alongside Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Utimaco.
- Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings indicate that MRVL maintains a strong price trend in the long, medium, and short terms.
Cues From Last Session
Information technology and industrials stocks bucked the overall market trend to close higher on Friday, while utilities, materials, and real estate led most S&P 500 sectors into negative territory.
| Index | Performance (+/-) | Value |
| Dow Jones | -0.18% | 51,682.64 |
| S&P 500 | 0.17% | 7,650.50 |
| Nasdaq Composite | 0.39% | 26,522.54 |
| Russell 2000 | -0.50% | 2,860.40 |
Insights From Analysts
Mohamed El-Erian views the U.S. stock market and economy as entering a delicate phase shaped by lingering interest rate risks and shifting monetary policy.
Following the Federal Reserve’s first rate hike since 2023, El-Erian notes that Chair Kevin Warsh temporarily anchored policy expectations, which helped catalyze a “broad relief rally in equities.”
However, he cautions that this market optimism remains “temporary and reversible” as energy market shocks and rising bond yields reassert pressure on global markets.
Looking ahead, El-Erian expects the real economy’s resilience to be tested. While households and corporations previously insulated themselves by locking in low borrowing costs, he highlights that “the transmission of interest rate risk to credit and earnings” is now a primary theme to watch.
Furthermore, with sovereign debt managers continuing to “auction unprecedented volumes of paper to fund persistent fiscal deficits,” the market’s capacity to absorb supply without spiking term premia will be crucial.
Ultimately, El-Erian anticipates that incoming economic data on consumer sentiment and labor markets will determine whether underlying economic strength can withstand these mounting financial headwinds.
Upcoming Economic Data
Here’s what investors will be keeping an eye on this week.
- No data is scheduled to be released on Monday.
- On Tuesday, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President Thomas Barkin will speak to the CFA Society Baltimore at 1:00 p.m. ET.
- On Wednesday, September’s flash U.S. manufacturing PMI and flash U.S. services PMI data will be released by 9:45 a.m. ET.
- On Thursday, weekly initial jobless claims for the week ending Sept. 19 and an Economic Club of Washington, DC event featuring Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President Thomas Barkin will both take place at 8:30 a.m. ET.
- August’s new home sales data will be out by 10:00 a.m., and September’s Kansas City Fed manufacturing survey data will be released by 11:00 a.m. ET.
- On Friday, August’s durable goods orders data will be released by 8:30 a.m., and September’s final University of Michigan consumer sentiment survey data will be out by 10:00 a.m. ET.
Commodities, Crypto, And Global Equity Markets
Crude Oil WTI futures were trading lower in the early New York session by 2.16% to hover around $94.00 per barrel.
Gold Spot US Dollar fell 0.50% to hover around $4,356.34 per ounce. The U.S. Dollar Index spot was 0.05% higher at the 100.2690 level.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) was trading 3.00% higher at $83,666.08 per coin over the last 24 hours.
Asian markets were higher on Monday, as Australia’s ASX 200, Japan’s Nikkei 225, India’s Nifty 50, South Korea’s Kospi, China’s CSI 300, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng indices rose. European markets were also higher in early trading.
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