Futures Pointing To Extended Sell-Off On Wall Street

The major U.S. index futures are currently pointing to a sharply lower open on Monday, with stocks likely to add to the steep loss posted last week.

The downward momentum on Wall Street comes amid an extended surge by the price of crude oil, which has skyrocketed above $100 a barrel for the first time since 2022.

Oil prices are extending last week’s spike amid ongoing concerns about the escalating conflict in the Middle East.

The continued increase comes following reports major oil producers Iraq, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates are cutting production.

With the Strait of Hormuz effectively closed due to Iranian threats against tankers, the countries are purportedly running out of storage space.

In a post on Truth Social, President Donald Trump called the spike in oil prices a “a very small price to pay” for national security and claimed prices will “drop rapidly when the destruction of the Iran nuclear threat is over.”

“Tipping over the $100 a barrel level has major implications from a psychological and economical perspective,” said Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell..

He added, “It significantly raises the chances of a sharp jump in inflation and interest rates shifting to a completely different path than the market had priced in only two weeks ago.”

Stocks moved sharply lower during trading on Friday, adding to the losses posted in the previous session. With the steep losses on the day, the Dow and the Nasdaq dropped to their lowest closing levels in over three months and the S&P 500 hit a two-month closing low.

The major averages all finished the day firmly in negative territory. The Nasdaq plunged 361.31 points or 1.6 percent to 22,387.68, the S&P 500 tumbled 90.69 points or 1.3 percent to 6,740.02 and the Dow slumped 453.19 points or 1.0 percent to 47,501.55.

The sell-off on Wall Street came amid an extended surge by the price of crude oil, with U.S. crude oil futures soaring above $90 a barrel.

Crude oil has skyrocketed over course of the week as the U.S.-Iran conflict spread across the Middle East, leading to concerns about a global energy crisis.

As the Middle East conflict entered its seventh day, Israel intensified air strikes on Iran, while the U.S. said its attacks on Iran are going to “surge dramatically.”

President Donald Trump said in a post on Truth Social that there would be no deal with Iran except “unconditional surrender.”

“After that, and the selection of a GREAT & ACCEPTABLE Leader(s), we, and many of our wonderful and very brave allies and partners, will work tirelessly to bring Iran back from the brink of destruction, making it economically bigger, better, and stronger than ever before,” Trump said.

Trump previously said the U.S. wants to be involved in the process of choosing the person who is going to lead Iran into the future.

Negative sentiment was also generated in reaction to a closely watched Labor Department report showing U.S. unemployment unexpectedly decreased in the month of February.

The report said non-farm payroll employment slumped by 92,000 jobs in February after jumping by a downwardly revised 126,000 jobs in January.

Economists had expected employment to increase by 60,000 jobs compared to the addition of 130,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.

The Labor Department also said the unemployment rate ticked up to 4.4 percent in February from 4.3 percent in January, in line with economist estimates.

Semiconductor stocks moved sharply lower over the course of the session, dragging the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index down by 3.9 percent to its lowest closing level in almost two months.

Substantial weakness was also visible among transportation stocks, as reflected by the 3.5 percent plunge by the Dow Jones Transportation average.

Steel, networking, financial and housing stocks also saw significant weakness, while oil producer stocks were among the few groups to buck the downtrend amid the spike by the price of crude oil.

Commodity, Currency Markets

Crude oil futures are skyrocketing $9.33 to $100.23 a barrel after soaring $9.89 to $90.90 a barrel last Friday. Meanwhile, after jumping $80 to $5,158.70 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are slumping $48.40 to $5,110.30 an ounce.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 158.40 yen versus the 157.79 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Friday. Against the euro, the dollar is trading at $1.1561 compared to last Friday’s $1.1618.

Asia

Asian stocks tanked on Monday as oil surged above $100 a barrel for the first time since 2022 amid escalating political tensions in West Asia.

Tensions in the Gulf escalated following reports of explosions at Al Udeid Air Base, the largest United States military installation in the Middle East.

Bahrain’s state oil company has declared force majeure on its shipments after Iranian strikes in the region set the largest oil facility on fire.

Crude prices surged more than 25 percent in early Asian trading amid fears of supply disruptions, triggering risk-off sentiment across global markets and pushing investors toward the dollar.

The dollar surged, while gold trimmed early losses to trade above $5,100 an ounce as investors braced for a prolonged conflict in the Middle East that could send energy costs even higher.

China’s Shanghai Composite Index dropped 0.7 percent to 4,096.60 after the release of mixed inflation data, with the consumer-price growth accelerating to the quickest in over three years in February while factory deflation moderated again.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index slumped 1.4 percent to 25,408.46 as surging oil prices stoked concerns about higher living costs and potential rate hikes.

Japanese markets nosedived on fears that escalating tensions in the Middle East could disrupt global energy supplies through the Strait of Hormuz.

The Nikkei 225 Index plunged as much as 7.6 percent early in the session, its sharpest decline since April 7, before recovering some lost ground to end 5.2 percent lower at 52,728.72. The broader Topix Index settled 3.8 percent lower at 3,575.84.

Technology stocks were among the hardest hit, with SoftBank Group, and Advantest falling 10-11 percent.

South Korea’s Kospi plummeted 6.0 percent to 5,251.87, dragged down by tech heavyweights. Samsung Electronics lost 7.8 percent and SK Hynix plunged 9.5 percent.

Trading was briefly disrupted due to technical glitches after the index plummeted over 8 percent in late morning trading.

Australian markets fell by the most in 11 months as investors braced for prolonged shipping disruptions and an extended period of high energy costs.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index tumbled 2.9 percent to 8,599, with financials, miners, gold, healthcare and tech stocks leading losses.

The broader All Ordinaries Index closed 2.9 percent lower at 8,823.60. Mining heavyweight BHP Billiton slumped 5.1 percent and peer Rio Tinto gave up 3.8 percent.

Across the Tasman, New Zealand’s benchmark S&P/NZX 50 Index ended down 3.1 percent at 13,098.83, clocking its sharpest decline since early April 2025.

Europe

European stocks have fallen sharply to hit two-month lows on Monday as investors brace for a prolonged conflict in the Middle East that could send energy costs even higher, risking inflation and regional economic growth.

Brent crude futures last traded up 15 percent at $107 a barrel after surging to a nearly four-year high above $119 a barrel earlier.

Tensions in the Gulf escalated following reports of explosions at Al Udeid Air Base, the largest United States military installation in the Middle East.

Bahrain’s state oil company has declared force majeure on its shipments after Iranian strikes in the region set the largest oil facility on fire.

Investors were also reacting to weak economic data from Germany. German industrial production posted an unexpected monthly fall of 0.5 percent in January following a 1.0 percent decrease in December, Destatis reported. Output was expected to climb 1.0 percent.

At the same time, factory orders plunged 11.1 percent in January, reversing the previous month’s 6.4 percent growth. Economists had forecast a moderate decline of 4.2 percent.

The French CAC 40 Index is down by 1.9 percent, the German DAX Index is down by 1.4 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index is down by 1.1 percent.

Among individual stocks, GSK has fallen in London after announcing a licensing agreement with Italian pharmaceutical company Alfasigma S.p.A.

Global technology major ABB has also slumped after an announcement that it will invest approximately $7.5 crore in India in 2026.

Engineering group SKF has also moved sharply lower after it has signed an agreement to acquire G-Tech Instruments Inc.

Meanwhile, education company Pearson has edged up slightly after announcing updates to its £350 million share buyback program.

Shipping services firm Clarkson has jumped despite reporting a decrease in profits for 2025 amid “extraordinary geopolitical and economic complexity.”

U.S. Economic News

No major U.S. economic data is scheduled to be released today.