Nasdaq, S&P 500 Futures Rise, Oil Tumbles On Iran Relief Hopes: Why PLTR, BABA, TSLA, SPCX, USO Are In Focus

• President Donald Trump said planned military strikes on Iran were called off, easing fears over Middle East supply disruptions and sending crude prices sharply lower. 
• Nearly 15% of S&P 500 companies report results this week, while labor-market data could shape expectations for the Federal Reserve’s next move. 
• Optimism around AI continued following last week’s Big Tech earnings. 

U.S. stock futures were higher in early Monday trade on easing geopolitical tensions in the Middle East after President Donald Trump announced the U.S. called off planned military strikes on Iran over the weekend. Direct negotiations are reportedly set to begin today. Hopes of a deal that could include reopening the Strait of Hormuz sent crude prices sharply lower.

As Wall Street kicks off August, investors are looking to build on the revived optimism around artificial intelligence (AI) after last week’s Big Tech earnings. Nearly 15% of the S&P 500 are reporting this week. Focus will also remain on a whole host of labor market data that will trickle in through the week, culminating in Friday’s July Nonfarm Payrolls report. 

As of 4:00 a.m. ET, Nasdaq and Russell 2000 futures were up 0.7%, while S&P 500 and Dow futures rose 0.5%. 

Retail traders, however, remain cautious. On Stocktwits, retail sentiment for the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY), an exchange-traded fund that tracks the S&P 500 Index, remained ‘bearish’, and Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ), which tracks the Nasdaq-100 Index, has dipped to ‘bearish’ from ‘neutral’ last week.

Trending Stocks To Watch

Palantir (PLTR) reports Q2 earnings after market close today, with investors watching to see if strong enterprise results can reverse its recent drop from peak levels.

Alibaba (BABA): Shares rose 4% in early premarket trading after releasing its Qwen3.8-Max AI model, which the company claims rivals the capabilities of Anthropic’s flagship model. 

Tesla Inc (TSLA): Under scrutiny as NHTSA opened an investigation into 156 complaints regarding front suspension failures on Model 3 and Model Y vehicles. Meanwhile, Danish registration data showed a 52% YoY jump in July.

SpaceX (SPCX): Remains on the retail radar ahead of its first Q2 earnings report as a public company on Tuesday. Elon Musk stoked optimism on social media by backing claims that SpaceX could add Tesla-equivalent revenue over the next 12–24 months. 

United States Oil Fund (USO): Global crude prices fell 5% following the de-escalation of U.S.-Iran military tensions over the weekend. Investors will also be tracking oil stocks such as BATL, TPET, XOM, CVX, EONR. 

SanDisk (SNDK), Micron (MU), AMD (AMD), Nvidia (NVDA) and ASML (ASML): Chip stocks will be in focus as investors position ahead of AMD earnings on Tuesday and SanDisk's report later in the week.

AstraZeneca (AZN) & Bristol Myers Squibb (BMY): Reports suggest that the two pharma giants held preliminary talks regarding a potential $400 billion mega-merger. 

Other tickers trending on Stocktwits at the time of writing included Critical Metals Corp (CRML), Canadian Solar Inc (CSIQ), Strategy (MSTR), Ondas Inc (ONDS), and First Majestic Silver (AG).

Other Catalysts To Watch

On the economic front, investors will be watching for the release of the ISM manufacturing PMI data at 10:00 am ET.

On the earnings front, TG Therapeutics (TGTX), Snap Inc (SNAP), and American Bitcoin Corp (ABTC) are among the companies reporting today. Later this week, market participants will watch for earnings reports from AMD (AMD), SpaceX (SPCX), SanDisk (SNDK), Super Micro Computer (SMCI), and Eli Lilly (LLY). 

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