By Niket Nishant and Avinash P
April 13 (Reuters) – Wall Street’s main indexes were set to open lower on Monday after weekend talks between the U.S. and Iran failed to deliver a deal nL6N40V09S to end the war, threatening a nascent recovery in equities and risking a renewed bout of volatility.
The declines indicate that any relief nL6N40T16E from the ceasefire reached last week could be fleeting, underscoring the risks of leaning too heavily into bullish bets when the geopolitical environment remains uncertain.
The main U.S. stock indexes had logged their second consecutive week of gains on Friday on hopes that the peace talks in Pakistan would bear fruit.
On Monday, however, Dow E-minis fell 509 points, or 1.06%, as of 08:32 a.m. ET, S&P 500 E-minis dropped 43.25 points, or 0.63%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis slipped 157.5 points, or 0.62%.
Adding to the unease, the U.S. military is hours away from beginning a blockade of all maritime traffic entering or leaving Iranian ports and coastal areas, in a move aimed at ramping up pressure on Tehran.
The CBOE Market Volatility Index, the market’s fear gauge, climbed to 21.29 points.
The shift in sentiment was also visible across other asset classes, with investors gravitating toward nL6N40W0BU the safe-haven U.S. dollar while trimming exposure to equities across geographies nL4N40W0EA.
Oil prices jumped back above nL1N40V07F $100 a barrel, aggravating inflation worries after data last week showed that a record surge in the cost of gasoline and diesel prompted the biggest increase in U.S. consumer prices in nearly four years in March.
“We are back in the realm of a wide range of plausible outcomes, from another round of negotiations during a patchy ceasefire… to a full resumption of hostilities,” said Hasnain Malik, Tellimer’s geopolitical risk and EM equity strategist.
GOLDMAN DROPS AFTER EARNINGS
Hopes for relief on the earnings front were dashed after Goldman Sachs shares fell 4.5% in premarket trading, after the bank’s quarterly results nL4N40W0SE.
While the investment bank beat estimates for earnings per share, it did so by the slimmest margin in nearly two years.
“We don’t see the market really paying too much attention to the earnings beat. And it’s all because of prospects of higher inflation, weaker economic activity and a Fed that may be forced to stay on hold for a long, long time,” said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities.
Attention now turns to commentary from Goldman executives, which will be parsed for clues on how the Middle East conflict, now in its seventh week, is impacting the economy and capital markets.
Rivals Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup slipped 2%, 1.9% and 1.8%, respectively.
Industrial supplies distributor Fastenal’s shares also fell 3% after earnings.
Travel-related stocks dropped, with carriers such as Delta Air Lines and JetBlue Airways down 2.7% and 2.3%, respectively, on concerns that higher oil prices might push up fuel costs.
Energy stocks gained, with Chevron, Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips climbing 1.9%, 2% and 2.3%, respectively.
Sandisk added 1.5% premarket as the memory chipmaker was on track to join the Nasdaq-100 index on April 20.
Later in the day, data is due on existing home sales in the U.S., and Federal Reserve Governor Stephen Miran is scheduled to speak.
(Reporting by Niket Nishant and Avinash P in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar and Devika Syamnath)
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