Stocks poised for a lower open
It looks as if U.S. stocks are going to start the week lower, weighed down by trade war jitters. On Friday, the U.S. sharply escalated its trade war with China by hiking tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese products.
Over the weekend, President Donald Trump in a tweet said in a post on Twitter: “We are right where we want to be with China. Remember, they broke the deal with us & tried to renegotiate. We will be taking in tens of billions of dollars in tariffs from China. Buyers of product can make it themselves in the USA (ideal), or buy it from non-tariffed countries.”
At 5:45 a.m. ET, futures on the blue-chip Dow were seen sliding 282 points, or 1.09% to $25,682. Futures on the S&P 500 declined 33.62 points, or 1.16% to 2,853.38 while those on the Nasdaq pointed to a loss of 118.75 points, or 1.56% to 7,491.50.
Oil prices rally after Saudi Arabia says its tankers were attacked
Oil prices jumped Monday after Saudi Arabia claimed that two of its oil tankers were a target of “sabotage attack” near the Strait of Hormuz this weekend. Khalid al-Falih, the kingdom’s energy minister said that although the attacks did not result in an oil spill, they caused “significant damage to the structures of the two vessels.”
The Strait of Hormuz – a busy transportation route that separates Iran and the Persian Gulf states – is the epicenter of a growing military conflict between Tehran and Washington. International benchmark Brent crude oil was up $1.16, or 1.7% at $71.80. West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. marker, was up $0.84 a barrel, or 1.3% at $62.49.
Bitcoin breaks past $7000 level
Bitcoin continued to stage its comeback over the weekend, rising above $7000 and boosting most major cryptocurrencies. On Sunday, the world’s most-valuable virtual currency rose close to $7,600 but has since pared the gains. As of 6:44 a.m. ET Monday, bitcoin was down to $7,089.
