Stock futures move higher
U.S. stock index futures were slightly higher ahead of Monday’s open, as investors get ready for the start of a new trading year.
With little economic data on the trading day’s horizon, market players are likely to be focusing their attention on moves in markets such as commodities.
At 5:00 a.m. ET, the blue-chip Dow futures were up 24.5 points, or 0.09% to 28,634.5. The S&P 500 futures rose 3.88 points, or 0.12% to 3,241.38 while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures advanced 9.87 points, or 0.11% to 8,793.12.
Tesla delivers its first Chinese-made Model 3 sedan
Meanwhile, Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) has delivered its first Model 3 sedans produced in its Chinese Gigafactory. The move comes just under a year after the Elon Musk-led automaker was given the green light to start manufacturing its cars in China.
“Tesla will deliver the first China-made Model 3 at Gigafactory 3 plant in Shanghai TODAY. The 15 customers who are slated to get their Model 3s first are Tesla employees,” the company tweeted on Monday.
According to the Global Times, the first owner of the Model 3 car is an employee of Tesla’s Xintiandi store in Shanghai. The Shanghai Gigafactory is expected to help the electric-car maker avoid higher import tariffs that are slapped by the Chinese government on cars made in the United States.
Shares of Tesla were little changed in premarket trading Monday.
Oil rises as U.S.-Iran tensions return
In commodities, oil futures gained on Monday after the U.S. carried out airstrikes in Syria and Iraq against an Iran-backed Iraqi paramilitary group, which has been blamed for a recent rocket attack that claimed the live of an American civilian contractor.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters in Florida that the Trump administration “will not stand for the Islamic Republic of Iran to take actions that put American men and women in jeopardy.”
Meanwhile, multiple media reports quoted Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi as saying: “U.S. military aggression against Iraqi soil and Iraqi forces is strongly condemned as a clear example of terrorism … and Iran strongly condemns it.”
At 6:35 a.m. ET, U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were up 0.23%, at $61.86 a barrel. International Brent crude oil futures were at $67.15 per barrel, up 0.42%.
