* Futures up: Dow 0.94%, S&P 500 1.29%, Nasdaq 2.2%
* Airline, cruise stocks gain as oil prices slide
* Paramount up after DOJ clears Warner Bros acquisition
* CBOE Volatility Index falls to over one-week low
(Updates with prices)
By Johann M Cherian and Twesha Dikshit
June 15 (Reuters) - Futures tracking Wall Street's main
indexes jumped on Monday after Washington and Tehran reached a
preliminary agreement to end the Iran war and reopen the crucial
Strait of Hormuz, sending oil prices tumbling to a three-month
low.
The framework for a deal, however, did not address sticking
issues such as Iran's nuclear program and the conflict between
Lebanon and Israel. The pact is expected to be formally signed
in Switzerland on Friday.
"If the overnight news of a deal between the U.S. and Iran
proves to be credible and lasting, this should be taken as a
positive, whereas setbacks will likely be taken as less of a
negative by risk assets," said Max Kettner, chief multi-asset
strategist at HSBC Global Investment Research.
Chip stocks moved higher in premarket trading. Micron
soared 8.2% after multiple brokerages raised its price target,
while Nvidia ( NVDA ) was up 2.3%, Intel ( INTC ) added 3.1% and
Marvell Technology ( MRVL ) rose 5.4%.
Crude prices tumbled more than 4% to their lowest mark since
March following the news, helping airlines and cruise stocks
that are sensitive to energy prices.
United Airlines rose 4.4%, Delta Airlines
added 4% and American Airlines ( AAL ) gained 3.5%, while
Norwegian Cruise and Carnival Corp ( CCL ) added 4.3%
and 3.6%, respectively.
Analysts warn that Brent crude prices could hover
around $80 a barrel despite the resolution as energy flows
resume through the Strait and Middle Eastern countries restore
damaged infrastructure.
Data from the previous week indicated higher energy costs
were filtering into consumer inflation, sharpening focus on the
U.S. Federal Reserve's outlook at the monetary policy meeting
later this week.
The yield on the benchmark two-year Treasury note
, reflecting rate-cut expectations, slipped 7 basis
points to a two-week low.
The CBOE Volatility Index, Wall Street's fear gauge,
slipped to a more than one-week low at 16.66, after rising to a
more than two-month high the previous week.
The Fed is expected to leave interest rates unchanged later
this week; however, traders still expect the central bank to
hike borrowing costs by at least 25 bps by the year-end,
according to the CME Group's FedWatch tool.
At 04:45 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis rose 480 points, or
0.94%, S&P 500 E-minis gained 95.75 points, or 1.29%,
and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 653.75 points, or 2.2%.
SpaceX's shares rose 5.6% after the Elon Musk-led
company ended its blockbuster IPO at a valuation of more than $2
trillion.
Markets were relieved by the smooth trading in SpaceX's
landmark Nasdaq launch, setting a new template for firms and
exchanges bracing for the giant IPOs of OpenAI and Anthropic
later this year.
All three indexes ended the week higher despite AI shares
being pressured early in the week. Analysts pointed to the tech
sector's sensitivity to higher interest rates and potential
positioning ahead of the SpaceX IPO as the drivers of the
selloff.
Attention will turn this week to Fed Chair Kevin Warsh's
first meeting at the helm, with investors gauging his
communication style and looking to economic and interest-rate
projections for hints on the rate path.
In other movers, Paramount Skydance's ( PSKY ) shares gained
4.7% after the U.S. Justice Department cleared the company's
acquisition of Warner Bros.