Markets today: crude eases as US-Iran talks resume

A firmer tone follows oil's overnight drop, with the ISM manufacturing survey at 10 a.m. ET and Palantir opening a heavy week of earnings.

Crude oil fell to a three-week low overnight after the United States called off a planned strike on Iran and said negotiations would resume this afternoon. Stock futures firmed on the news. At home, two markers frame the session: the ISM manufacturing survey at 10 a.m. ET, and Palantir Technologies after the close, which opens a dense run of corporate results across the week.

On the calendar today

The Institute for Supply Management releases its manufacturing survey at 10:00 a.m. ET, one of the earliest monthly reads on factory activity. The headline forecast is 54, against 53.3 the month before. A figure above 50 signals expansion. Below 50 points to contraction. The survey draws on purchasing and supply managers at U.S. factories. The same report includes the manufacturing employment index, last at 49.7. It is the first of two ISM surveys due this week, with the services reading to follow.

Reporting today

Palantir Technologies reports after the closing bell. It is the one name Bellwize covers on today’s schedule. The calendar fills out quickly from Tuesday.

Backdrop

Stocks ended last week higher. The S&P 500 closed Friday at 7,489.72, up 0.7% on the session. The Dow finished at 52,485.03, a gain of 0.53%. The Nasdaq Composite added 1% to 25,373.85. The 10-year Treasury yield stood at 4.68%, and the VIX volatility gauge ended the week at 15.95.

The week ahead

Tuesday: JOLTS job openings at 10:00 a.m. ET (forecast 7.25 million, prior 7.594 million). Earnings from Advanced Micro Devices, Caterpillar and Merck.
Wednesday: the ISM services survey at 10:00 a.m. ET (forecast 54.2, prior 54). Earnings from Eli Lilly, The Walt Disney Company and Shopify.
Thursday: earnings from ConocoPhillips, Constellation Energy and Airbnb.
Friday: earnings from Vistra.

What to watch

Energy sits at the center of the overnight story. The US-Iran talks resume this afternoon, and crude sold off as the announcement landed. That puts the oil complex first on the screen this morning.

The ISM manufacturing reading at 10 a.m. is the week’s first scheduled look at the factory sector. It is the main domestic data point before the closing bell.

Palantir’s numbers land after that bell. They open the week’s stretch of large-company earnings.

This is a general-market summary for information only — not investment advice, and not a recommendation regarding any security.