U.S. Futures Stabilize as Oil Falls Below $100

By Dow Jones Newswires Staff

U.S. stock futures steadied in early European trade as Brent crude oil fell back below $100 a barrel.

Investors paused for breath after frenetic selling Thursday, when fears around U.S.-Iran escalations reverberated through global markets. The absence of fresh overnight escalations halted the global oil benchmark's upward march, as investors hope leaders seek an off-ramp. U.S. Treasury yields and the dollar fell back from Thursday's highs, but remained elevated.

Asian equities largely fell as they caught up with the selloff in U.S. trading, with Alphabet and Tesla's earnings prompting selling across technology stocks.

Markets were little moved by a new wave of U.S. tariffs on imports from major trading partners, as President Trump establishes fresh legal justification for sweeping duties on global products.

--Brent crude edged lower in early trading, though prices remained on track for weekly gains of more than 12% as threats to Red Sea shipping stoked fears of further supply disruptions. The global oil benchmark fell 1.8% to $98.92 a barrel, while WTI futures slipped 1.75% t $90.62 a barrel. "The key question is at what price level pressure begins to build on the Trump administration to return to the negotiating table," analysts at ING said. Based on previous price spikes during the early stages of the conflict, they say pressure to de-escalate would rise significantly if Brent approaches $120 a barrel. For Iran, the more pressing issue is not the level of oil prices, but how long the country can withstand a sharp drop in oil revenues under the U.S. blockade.

--In the U.S., futures for the S&P 500 were up 0.2% while the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.4%. Nasdaq futures nudge up 0.05% after the index notched its worst day in a month Thursday, falling to levels last seen in early May. Intel gave headline index figures a boost, rising 4.8% in after-hours trade after reporting earnings. American Express and Verizon are among companies reporting earnings later Friday.

--Asian equities largely fell on Friday. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average fell 2.7%, South Korea's Kospi dropped 5.7%, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index shed 1.1%.

--European equity indexes largely edged higher in early trading after sharp selling in the last session. Banks and software stocks jumped as the Europe-wide Stoxx 600 rose 0.2%. Software giant SAP bounced 4.2% after posting higher-than-expected cloud revenue, helping the German DAX to rise 0.3%. Volkswagen lost 1.6% after cutting its revenue forecast. The CAC 40 edged 0.2% higher in Paris as banks strengthened, though Carrefour fell 5.8% after earnings. London's FTSE 100 edged up 0.1%, led by Relx rising 3.3%. The Dutch AEX gained 0.1%. Banks pushed Spain's IBEX 35 and Italy's FTSE MIB to rise 0.7% and 0.5%, respectively.

--The dollar edged slightly lower but remains at elevated levels after reaching a three-week high on Thursday as a surge in energy prices boosted expectations for the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates. The market is now pricing a 33% chance the Fed could raise rates by 25 basis points on July 29 and is fully pricing a move by September, according to LSEG. The DXY dollar index fell 0.1% to 101.384, pulling back only marginally from the high of 101.544 reached Thursday.

--U.S. Treasury yields edged lower but stay near Thursday's peaks. Technical analysts at J.P. Morgan said the market could try to catch its footing near the next support level of 4.175%, "but we would like to see signs of seller exhaustion before we would suggest fading the move." The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield edged 0.2 basis point lower to 4.701%, thus staying below an 18-month high of 4.714% reached Thursday.

--Eurozone government bonds recovered slightly as investors await French, German and eurozone purchasing managers' surveys. Any weakness in the readings could ease concerns about prospects of the European Central Bank raising interest rates. However, yields remain elevated, with the 10-year Bund yield having hit its highest since 2011 on Thursday. The 10-year Bund yield fell 1.4 basis points to 3.1950, having hit 3.2118% on Thursday.

--Bitcoin rose 0.6% to $65,509 in early European trade.

--Gold prices were back below $4,100 as higher real yields and rate-hike bets weighed on the non-yielding metal's appeal. In early trading, New York futures are up 0.05% to $4,052.40 a troy ounce, leaving prices on track for a modest weekly gain after a rebound earlier this week.

Write to Barcelona Editors at barcelonaeditors@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 24, 2026 04:11 ET (08:11 GMT)