A trader works on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., June 18, 2026. <\/p>\n
Jeenah Moon | Reuters<\/p>\n
U.S. equity futures slipped and oil prices rose on Sunday <\/strong>as Wall Street watched the latest developments in the Iran war negotiations and awaited the release of inflation data that is closely watched by the Federal Reserve.<\/p>\n S&P 500 futures<\/a> traded down 0.4%, while Nasdaq-100 futures<\/a> were 0.6% lower. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average<\/a> dropped 183 points, or 0.4%.<\/p>\n Oil prices climbed amid uncertainty about the conflict in the Middle East. U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures<\/a> gained nearly 3% to around $78 per barrel, while international benchmark Brent crude futures<\/a> added more than 1% to roughly $81 a barrel.<\/p>\n The moves come after President Donald Trump<\/a> on Sunday threatened fresh strikes on Iran<\/a> if the country’s leaders don’t “immediately stop their highly paid PROXIES in Lebanon from causing trouble.” His remarks came as Vice President JD Vance<\/a> met with Iranian officials<\/a> for the first round of negotiations in Switzerland, after talks had earlier been called off.<\/p>\n The three leading U.S. indexes staged a comeback<\/a> Thursday after a sell-off on Wednesday<\/a>, with the declines fueled by investor uncertainty about the trajectory of monetary policy<\/a>. Thursday’s comeback \u2013 led by a rise in chip stocks \u2013 helped the indexes finish the trading week higher.<\/p>\n The S&P 500<\/a> gained nearly 1% in the period, seeing its 11th winning week in 12. The Dow Jones Industrial Average<\/a> also rose close to 1% on the week, while the Nasdaq Composite<\/a> advanced more than 2%. The U.S. stock market was closed on Friday for the Juneteenth holiday.<\/p>\n A key test for the market this week will be the release on Thursday of May’s reading on the personal consumption expenditures price index, the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge. Even excluding volatile food and energy prices, core PCE is expected to increase<\/a> from April, according to economists polled by FactSet.<\/p>\n Following last week’s hawkish Fed meeting, expectations of an interest rate increase were pulled forward to as soon as October. Investors are now laser-focused on any inflation reading that could signal the U.S. central bank may soon begin hiking rates. <\/p>\n While Fundstrat Global Advisors’ Tom Lee believes a number of catalysts could impact the market down the line \u2013 such as the implementation of task forces at the Federal Reserve<\/a> and supply chain impacts<\/a> from the closure of the Strait of Hormuz \u2013 the environment remains positive.<\/p>\n