Futures Pointing To Initial Pullback On Wall Street

(RTTNews) - Following the rebound seen during last Friday's session, stocks are likely to move back to the downside in early trading on Monday. The major index futures are currently pointing to a lower open for the markets, with the S&P 500 futures down by 0.7 percent.

The downward momentum on Wall Street comes as the price of crude is showing a substantial rebound after falling sharply in the previous session.

After plunging by 2.4 percent last Friday, U.S. crude oil futures are soaring by 3.8 percent amid renewed supply disruption concerns.

The rebound by crude oil prices comes after Saudi Arabia closed a critical pipeline that bypasses the Strait of Hormuz following a drone attack.

News that a planned meeting in Oman between Iran and Gulf states over reopening Hormuz has been postponed has also contributed to the increase in the price of crude oil.

Selling pressure may also be generated amid renewed worries about artificial intelligence after industry leaders called for a slowdown in the pace of AI development.

"We must slow the pace at which we improve the capabilities of AI models. Progress will still seem fast, and we must make wise use of the time we gain," Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei.

"The measures I propose to advance the frontier at a safe pace will not be easy," he added. "But I believe we owe it to humanity to try."

After moving sharply higher early in the session, stocks continued to turn in a strong performance throughout the trading day on Friday. The major averages all showed significant moves to the upside, regaining ground following the recent downward trend.

The major averages ended the day off their highs of the session but still firmly positive. The Dow shot up 509.19 points or 1 percent to 52,573.29, the Nasdaq jumped 251.31 points or 1 percent to 26,333.04 and the S&P 500 advanced 65.28 points or 0.9 percent to 7,656.98.

Despite the rebound on the day, the major averages all moved to the downside for the holiday-shortened week. The Dow slumped by 1.6 percent, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq slid by 0.8 percent and 0.7 percent, respectively.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance during trading on Monday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index slid by 0.8 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index climbed by 0.5 percent.

The major European markets have also turned mixed on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is up by 0.5 percent, the German DAX Index is down by 0.6 percent and the French CAC 40 Index is down by 0.9 percent.

In commodities trading, crude oil futures are soaring $3.58 to $103.63 a barrel after plunging $2.43 to $100.05 a barrel last Friday. Meanwhile, after inching up $1.60 to $4,408.90 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are tumbling $82.60 to $4,326.30 an ounce.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 154.79 yen versus the 153.54 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Friday. Against the euro, the dollar is trading at $1.1532 compared to last Friday's $1.1598.