U.S. equity futures rose early Monday after President Donald Trump called off planned strikes against Iran, sending oil prices lower, in the first trading day of the new month.
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied 413 points, or 0.8%. S&P 500 futures advanced 0.6%, and Nasdaq-100 futures climbed 0.4%.
Trump said Sunday he canceled a planned attack on Iran, adding that talks between the two countries would resume Monday. U.S. media reports on Friday said the president was gearing up for a new wave of strikes as hopes for a negotiated settlement to the war diminished and energy prices surged.
Crude prices tumbled in response. Brent oil lost 5.2% to trade at $83.39 per barrel. West Texas Intermediate futures shed 6.2% to $79.45 per barrel.
Treasury yields also fell as worries around inflation dimmed slightly. The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield slid 6 basis points to 4.68%.
That said, “investors are keeping their enthusiasm in check as ‘we’ve been here before’ and it’s likely the conflict has further to go before reaching a resolution (if it ever does),” wrote Vital Knowledge founder Adam Crisafulli.
Monday marks the first trading day of August, with the major averages looking to stabilize after a volatile July.
Investors will also have a full slate of labor market data to digest this week, culminating on Friday with July’s closely-watched non-farm payrolls and unemployment figures on Friday. The U.S. economy is expected to have added 87,500 nonfarm payrolls in July, up from 57,000 jobs the previous month, according to FactSet consensus estimates. The unemployment rate is also set to edge higher, to 4.3% from 4.2%.
Across the Atlantic, stock markets in Europe moved higher, with the Stoxx 600 up 0.3% in morning trade as European carmakers advanced almost 2.3%. Germany’s DAX led gains, rising 1.3%, with the French CAC 40 adding almost 1.1%, though the U.K.’s FTSE 100 dipped almost 0.1%.
Asia-Pacific markets ended mixed on Monday. South Korea’s Kospi fell over 5%, giving up some of the gains from Friday after clocking its best day on record. Japan’s Nikkei 225 slid 0.94%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 closed 0.47% higher. Mainland China’s CSI 300 fell 0.98%.
Here’s the latest ahead of the opening bell on Wall Street
U.S. stock futures were in positive territory ahead of the new trading week, with Dow Jones futures more than 350 points higher, as futures tied to the S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq both rose more than 0.5%.
- Oil prices tumbled about 5% after President Donald Trump said fresh Middle East talks would resume Monday, having earlier called off a planned strike against Iran.
- Alibaba‘s U.S.-listed shares advanced in premarket trading after the Chinese internet pioneer unveiled a powerful new AI model.
- Treasury yields fell on news of a potential de-escalation of tensions in the Middle East, as investors await key U.S. jobs data due later this week.
— Hugh Leask
U.S. Treasury yields fall as oil prices plunge on Iran de-escalation hopes
U.S. Treasury yields followed oil prices lower on Monday as investors monitor signs of de-escalation in the Iran conflict.
AstraZeneca shares plummet following Bristol Myers Squibb mega-merger reports
AstraZeneca’s slide wiped out the FTSE 100‘s morning gains on Monday, with the U.K. index last seen hovering around the flatline, lagging other continental benchmarks.
—Hugh Leask
Asia markets close mixed as South Korea retreats after record rally
Asia-Pacific markets ended mixed on Monday. South Korea’s Kospi fell over 5% to close at 6,257.45, giving up some of the gains from Friday after clocking its best day on record.
The small-cap Kosdaq, however, added 2.44% to end at 737.35.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 slid 0.94% to 63,754.9, while the Topix lost over 1% to 3,960.03.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 closed 0.47% higher at 9,019.3.
Mainland China’s CSI 300 fell 0.98% to close at 4,543.18. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was up 0.26% as of its last hour of trade.
—Lee Ying Shan
European stock markets start August in the green
The pan-European Stoxx 600 opened Monday’s session 0.35% higher, while most regional sectors and major bourses were in positive territory shortly after 8:00 a.m. in London (3:00 a.m. in E.T.).
Travel and leisure stocks led early gains, rising 1.79%, with construction stocks up 1.6%, and industrial goods 1.2% higher. Oil and gas companies slumped 1.79% as oil prices slumped in morning dealmaking.
Meanwhile, Germany’s DAX was up more than 0.91%, the French CAC 40 gained 0.90%, the Italian FTSE MIB advanced 0.81%, and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 was last seen flat.
—Hugh Leask
Shell agrees to sell European onshore renewable portfolio to TotalEnergies
Britain’s Shell on Monday signed a deal with France’s TotalEnergies for the sale of its European onshore renewables portfolio, including development-stage and operational assets across the U.K., Italy, Spain and the Netherlands.
The announcement, which is subject to regulatory approvals, is expected to be completed by the end of the year.
“This agreement reflects Shell’s continued focus on actively managing and high-grading its power portfolio in line with the strategy set out at Capital Markets Day 2025,” said Machteld de Haan, president, downstream, renewables and energy solutions at Shell.
It comes shortly after Shell reported its best quarterly result in four years, boosted by the jump in oil and gas prices amid the Iran war. The London-listed company on Thursday posted adjusted earnings of $9.84 billion for the second quarter, comfortably beating analyst expectations.
— Sam Meredith
BP completes sale of Gelsenkirchen refinery as part of simplification push
BP has completed the sale of its Gelsenkirchen refinery and related businesses to investment firm Klesch Group, the British energy major said on Monday, in a deal expected to lower the oil giant’s underlying operating expenditure by around $1 billion.
The transaction continues BP’s simplification push as the company doubles down on its core business model of oil and gas and divests non-core assets to reduce debt.
“By concentrating our capital on the assets and markets where bp can be most competitive, we are building a higher-value, more resilient downstream business that continues to supply the fuels and products our customers rely on,” Richard Harding, interim executive vice president of Downstream at BP, said in a statement.
BP did not specify the value of the deal. It had previously announced its intention to sell the refinery and associated assets to Klesch in March.
— Sam Meredith
European stocks set to open higher on first trading day of August
European stock markets are expected to open higher on the first trading day of the month, as oil prices plunged after U.S. President Donald Trump said talks with Iran would resume on Monday.
Stoxx 50 futures were up 0.8% ahead of the opening bell, while major bourses in London, Frankfurt, Paris and Milan are all set to move higher at the start of Monday’s session.
Germany’s DAX was up more than 1%, while both the Italian FTSE MIB and the French CAC 40 were more than 0.7% higher. Futures tied to the U.K.’s FTSE 100 were last seen 0.3% up.
—Hugh Leask
U.S., Japan confirm coordinated yen intervention, signal readiness for more
Japan’s finance ministry said Monday it had conducted a coordinated yen-buying operation with the U.S. Treasury on Friday, marking a rare joint move by the two allies to stem sharp swings in the Japanese currency.
Tokyo signaled it was prepared to act again if needed, saying it “will not hesitate to conduct further coordinated interventions in the future” and remains in close communication with the U.S. Treasury. Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama also stressed that Japan “remains attentive and in close communication with counterparts at U.S. Treasury.”
The yen’s weakness has become an increasing concern for Tokyo, with the currency recently falling to its weakest level in roughly four decades against the dollar. The Japanese yen hit 163.73 against the greenback on Thursday last week, before strengthening to 157.57 on Friday. It was trading at 157.70 per dollar on Monday
—Lee Ying Shan
Alibaba shares rise 6% after launching flagship AI model Qwen3.8-Max
Shares of Alibaba climbed 6% after the Chinese tech giant unveiled its latest flagship artificial intelligence model, Qwen3.8-Max, saying the model’s open weights will be released next week, allowing developers to download and run it locally.
The release comes after Chinese AI startup DeepSeek launched its latest V4 Flash model in beta mode on Friday.
—Jenny Lee
SK Hynix, Samsung start the week lower after record surge
South Korea’s chip heavyweights SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics fell in Seoul on Monday, after both skyrocketed on Friday to clock their best one-day gains.
SK Hynix was 6.29% lower, while Samsung declined nearly 7%.
Among Japanese chip stocks Advantest slipped 2.49%, while Tokyo Electron declined 1.93%, Disco rose 3.74%, Lasertec advanced 7.83% and Renesas Electronics surged 12%. SoftBank Group added 1.43%.
Taiwan’s TSMC decline 2.06%.
—Justina Lee
SK Inc falls 4% after 2.3 trillion won deal to sell SK Siltron to Doosan
Shares of SK Inc dropped 4% after Doosan announced in a regulatory filing on Friday that it had agreed to acquire a 70.61% stake in semiconductor wafer maker SK Siltron from SK Inc. for 2.3 trillion won ($1.7 billion).
Citi said Doosan’s acquisition was agreed at a lower-than-expected price, valuing the deal at about 9.7 times estimated 2026 enterprise value to EBITDA. The bank views the transaction as positive for Doosan.
The deal comes after months of negotiations since SK selected Doosan as the preferred bidder in December.
Doosan shares rose 6%, bucking a broader market sell-off that saw South Korea’s benchmark Kospi slide 4.79% in early trading.
—Jenny Lee
Mainland China stocks open lower, Hong Kong shares rise
Mainland China stocks were lower in early trade Monday, tracking a broader decline in Asia markets.
China’s CSI 300 was 0.57% lower. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index, however, bucked the broader trend to gain 0.55% as technology stocks rose. Alibaba and Baidu shares were up 3.4% and 2.8% in early trading.
—Justina Lee
Toyota Motor shares drop over 5% as analysts forecast profit slide
Toyota Motor shares fell more than 5% Monday, after the world’s biggest automaker is expected to report a fifth straight quarterly operating profit decline this week, weighed down by higher costs and weaker vehicle sales.
Toyota is estimated to post 1.11 trillion yen ($7.04 billion) in profit for the April-June quarter, down 5% from a year ago, on higher costs and weaker vehicle sales, according to median estimate of analysts surveyed by LSEG.
Meanwhile, traders would also look for management comments regarding the impact of a Southern Japan earthquake on disruptions to its production facilities, when it posts its earnings later this week.
—Justina Lee
South Korea’s Kospi falls over 4%; Japan’s Nikkei drops 1.4%
Asia-Pacific markets traded lower early Monday.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 1.43% while the Topix declined 1.45%.
The Kospi dropped 4.57% at open, while the small-cap Kosdaq slipped 1.67%.
Australia’s benchmark S&P/ASX 200 was 0.36% lower.
—Justina Lee
Asia-Pacific markets set to open mixed after Trump holds off on Iran strikes
Asia-Pacific markets were set to open mixed Monday, amid lower oil prices after U.S. President Donald Trump cancelled planned attack on Iran.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 was poised to fall, with its Chicago futures contract at 63,700 and its Osaka counterpart last trading at 62,950, compared with the index’s previous close of 64,362.02.
Hong Kong Hang Seng index futures were last at 25,922, compared with the index’s last close of 25,884.43.
In Australia, S&P/ASX 200‘s futures last traded at 8,858, while the index closed at 8,976.80.
Trump said early Sunday that a planned attack on Iran was cancelled, after Tehran and its regional neighbors made a request to hold off on attacks. The agreement would include the “Immediate, Complete, and Total OPENING OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT, and an end to Iran’s nuclear threat,” Trump said.
—Justina Lee
Stock futures open higher
U.S. equity futures rose to begin trading on Sunday evening.
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped gained 183 points, or 0.3%. S&P 500 futures advanced 0.4% and Nasdaq-100 futures rallied 0.7%.
— Tanaya Macheel
