S&P 500, Nasdaq, Dow Futures Slide As Trump Says US Navy Seizes Iranian Ship: Why ASTS, MRVL, CRML, PBM Stocks Are In Focus

• President Trump threatened to hit Iran’s power plants and bridges if they failed to take a deal.
• Dow Jones futures slid by more than 0.7% around 9.40 PM ET, the S&P 500 futures slid 0.5%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures declined 0.5%. 
• Oil prices climbed higher amid escalating tensions, with the WTI crude futures up to $89.15 a barrel and Brent crude up to $95.37 a barrel.

U.S. stock futures tumbled Sunday night, and oil prices jumped amid escalating tensions with Iran after President Donald Trump said that an Iranian-flagged cargo ship had been seized in the Strait of Hormuz.

Dow Jones futures slid by more than 0.7% around 9.40 PM ET, the S&P 500 futures slid 0.5%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures declined 0.5%.

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) fell about 0.69% in overnight trading, Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) edged 0.46% lower, and SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (DIA) declined 0.67%. Meanwhile, on Stocktwits, retail sentiment around the S&P 500 ETF was in the ‘extremely bullish’ territory at the time of writing, amid ‘low’ message volumes.

What’s Driving US Markets?

After a week of optimism around de-escalations that drove markets to record highs and lowered oil prices, Trump said on Sunday that the U.S. Navy had fired on the Iranian ship that had allegedly attempted to pass the blockade despite warnings, as a ceasefire between the two countries is set to expire this week.

“The U.S. Navy Guided Missile Destroyer USS SPRUANCE intercepted the TOUSKA in the Gulf of Oman, and gave them fair warning to stop. The Iranian crew refused to listen, so our Navy ship stopped them right in their tracks by blowing a hole in the engineroom. Right now, U.S. Marines have custody of the vessel,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

In an earlier post, the president also threatened to hit Iran’s power plants and bridges if they failed to take a deal. “We’re offering a very fair and reasonable DEAL, and I hope they take it because, if they don’t, the United States is going to knock out every single Power Plant, and every single Bridge, in Iran,” he said, adding that U.S. representatives would be visiting Pakistan on Monday evening to negotiate further.

Over the weekend, Iran reversed an earlier decision to reopen the critical sea route after Trump announced that the U.S. Navy blockade of Iranian ports would stay, sending oil prices soaring back up.

Major U.S. indexes closed higher on Friday.

Meanwhile, markets will be looking out for key earnings this week, with Tesla Inc. (TSLA), Boeing Co. (BA), AT&T Inc. (T), and Intel Corp. (INTC) among those expected to report quarterly earnings. Additionally, on Tuesday, markets will also be looking out for the Senate Banking Committee’s first hearing for the confirmation of Kevin Warsh as Trump’s nominee for Federal Reserve chair.

Trending Stocks To Watch

AST SpaceMobile (ASTS): Shares of the company plummeted more than 15% in Sunday’s overnight trading after the company said that its BlueBird-7 satellite did not reach its intended orbit at launch and is now set to de-orbit.

Marvell Technology Inc. (MRVL): The stock jumped about 8% at the time of writing in the overnight trading session amid reports that the company was in talks with Alphabet Inc.’s (GOOG, GOOGL) Google to develop chips to improve the efficiency of its AI model operations.

Critical Metals Corp. (CRML): The company has been garnering attention on Wall Street and among retailers after announcing last week that it had received approval from Greenland’s government to get hold of a majority stake in the Tanbreez mining project.

Psyence Biomedical Ltd. (PBM): The company drew attention after Trump signed an order last week that was aimed at accelerating research into psychedelic drugs, including ibogaine, now under study for addiction and PTSD.

Broader Market Trends

Oil prices climbed higher amid escalating tensions. WTI crude futures were up 6.32% to $89.15 a barrel, while Brent crude climbed 5.51% to $95.37 a barrel.

Meanwhile, treasury yields on the benchmark 10-year were up to 4.266%, while gold traded around $4,806 an ounce after falling about 0.44%. The U.S. Dollar Index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, was up 0.2% to 98.302 at the time of writing.

Asian markets were mixed in Monday’s opening trade, with KOSPI, Nikkei 225, Hang Seng, and the Shanghai Composite all trading up, while Australian stocks dipped lower.

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