(For a Reuters live blog on U.S., UK and European stock
markets, click or type LIVE/ in a news window)
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Futures down: Dow 0.48%, S&P 500 0.45%, Nasdaq 0.5%
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Solar stocks down as Senate proposes to phase out tax
credits
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Eli Lilly ( LLY ) to acquire Verve Therapeutics ( VERV ) for up to $1.3 bln
(Updates before markets open)
By Kanchana Chakravarty and Sukriti Gupta
June 17 (Reuters) -
Wall Street's main indexes were on track for a lower open on
Tuesday as the Israel-Iran conflict entered its fifth day,
denting global investor confidence ahead of the Federal
Reserve's upcoming monetary policy decision.
Iran and Israel's air war, which began on Friday when Israel
attacked Iran's nuclear facilities, has raised concerns that the
conflict could create bottlenecks for oil exports from the
oil-rich Middle East.
"(Wall Street believes) that the situation is going to
be contained. The market is definitely paying attention to it,
but right now there's no panic in the market over it," said
Larry Tentarelli, chief technical strategist at Blue Chip Daily
Trend Report.
U.S. energy stocks rose in premarket trading as oil prices
remained elevated on the uncertainty. Chevron ( CVX ) and Exxon
edged up 0.7% each, while Occidental Petroleum ( OXY )
advanced 0.8%, and Devon Energy ( DVN ) gained 1.2%.
The surge in oil prices comes ahead of the Fed's monetary
policy decision on Wednesday, when policymakers are widely
expected to keep interest rates unchanged.
Money market moves show traders are pricing in about 48
basis points of rate cuts by the end of 2025, with a 59% chance
of a 25-bps rate cut in September, according to CME Group's
FedWatch tool.
At 8:49 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were down 204 points,
or 0.48%, S&P 500 E-minis were down 27.25 points, or
0.45%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were down 108.25 points,
or 0.5%.
Data on Tuesday showed
U.S. retail sales dropped
more than expected in May. Retail sales fell 0.9% last
month, while economists polled by Reuters had forecast a 0.7%
decline.
U.S. Senate Republicans late on Monday unveiled proposed
changes to President Donald Trump's sweeping tax-cut bill that
had cleared the House of Representatives in May.
Solar stocks dipped after the Senate's changes to Trump's
tax-cut bill revealed a phase-out of solar, wind and energy tax
credits by 2028.
Shares of Enphase Energy ( ENPH ), which makes solar
inverters, dropped 21%. Solar panel sellers Sunrun ( RUN ) fell
36% and SolarEdge Technologies ( SEDG ) dropped 31.3%. First
Solar ( FSLR ) lost nearly 17.6%.
Shares of nuclear power companies rose after the Senate
extended credits for nuclear energy to 2036. Oklo ( OKLO ) was
up 5.2% and Nano Nuclear Energy ( NNE ) rose 4.3%.
As investors flock to traditional safe-haven assets amid
heightened geopolitical uncertainty, a rise in U.S. Treasuries
pushed yields lower across the curve. Yields on the benchmark
10-year fell about 5 basis points to 4.40%.
Among other movers, Eli Lilly ( LLY ) edged down 0.4% after
it agreed to acquire Verve Therapeutics ( VERV ) for up to $1.3
billion. Shares of Verve surged over 75%.
T-Mobile fell 4.3% after Japan's SoftBank
raised $4.8 billion from a sale of 21.5 million of the wireless
carrier's shares at $224 each, according to a term sheet
reviewed by Reuters.