Wall St set for higher open on Iran deal optimism, lower oil prices

By Twesha Dikshit and Joel Jose

Wall Street's main indexes were on track to open higher on Monday after Washington and Tehran reached a preliminary agreement to end their war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, leading to a sharp decline in crude prices.

The framework for a deal, however, did not address key issues such as Iran's nuclear program and the conflict between Israel and Lebanon. The pact is expected to be formally signed in Switzerland on Friday.

Crude prices tumbled more than 5% following the news and hit their lowest level since March, aiding energy-sensitive airline and cruise stocks and hurting energy shares.

United Airlines rose 4.5%, while Delta Air Lines and American Airlines added 4% each in premarket trading. Norwegian Cruise and Carnival Corp advanced 4% each.

Shares of oil majors Exxon Mobil and Chevron fell 3% each.

"The hope is that maybe with some pressure off of inflation... at some point, the Federal Reserve may be able to cut interest rates," said Robert Pavlik, senior portfolio manager at Dakota Wealth.

"I think that's a bit of a stretch, but I think that's helping. You're seeing that being reflected in Treasury yields and so this is a much better environment for equities going forward."

The CBOE Volatility Index, considered Wall Street's fear gauge, slipped to a more than one-week low at 16.65. It had risen to a more than two-month high the previous week.

Markets saw volatility as AI stocks were strained after a strong run that lifted the three indexes to record highs. Analysts attributed the selloff to the tech sector's sensitivity to higher interest rates and potential positioning ahead of the SpaceX IPO.

Last week's inflation data showed higher energy costs filtering into consumer inflation for May, sharpening focus on the U.S. Federal Reserve's outlook at its policy meeting, due later this week, which will be Chair Kevin Warsh's first since taking charge.

A resumption of oil flows from the Middle East could ease crude prices, giving policymakers grappling with inflation a slight reprieve.

Traders expect the Fed to leave interest rates unchanged this week, but have pared back expectations for a 25-basis-point hike by the end of the year to 70%, from fully priced in the previous week, according to LSEG data.

At 08:24 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis rose 459 points, or 0.9%, S&P 500 E-minis were up 91.5 points, or 1.23%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis gained 614 points, or 2.07%.

SpaceX's shares rose 5.4% after the Elon Musk-led company ended its blockbuster IPO with a more than $2 trillion valuation.

Markets were relieved by the smooth trading during SpaceX's landmark Nasdaq launch, setting a new template for companies and exchanges bracing for the highly anticipated OpenAI and Anthropic IPOs later this year.

Chip stocks moved higher in premarket trading. Micron soared 8% after multiple brokerages raised its price targets, while Nvidia was up 1.4%, Intel added 3.3% and Marvell Technology rose 5.1%.

Paramount Skydance's shares gained 4% following the U.S. Justice Department clearance for its Warner Bros acquisition.

Fox tumbled 13.1% after the company said it would buy Roku in a $22 billion deal. The streaming platform added 1.7%.

(Reporting by Johann M Cherian, Twesha Dikshit and Joel Jose in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich and Pooja Desai)

Copyright Reuters or USA Today Network via Reuters Connect.

This story was originally published June 15, 2026 at 8:55 AM.