SINGAPORE, May 25 (Reuters) - U.S. stock futures rose on
Monday while the dollar and oil prices slipped as the prospect
of a deal to end the Iran war buoyed risk appetite although a
lack of clarity over when the Strait of Hormuz would open kept
enthusiasm in check.
The nearly three month war in the Middle East has sent energy
prices soaring and rewired global rates outlook due to worries
over inflation as Tehran effectively shut down the strait
through which much of the world's energy supply passes.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday he had told his
representatives not to rush into any deal with Iran, as his
administration played down hopes of an imminent breakthrough.
Just a day earlier, Trump had said that Washington and Iran
had "largely negotiated" a memorandum of understanding on a
peace deal that would reopen the waterway, which before the
conflict carried one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural
gas shipments.
Oil prices hit two-week lows to kickstart the week with
Brent crude futures down over 4% to $98.83 a barrel,
while U.S. West Texas Intermediate CLc1 was at $92.03 a barrel,
also down over 4%.
The euro was up 0.37% at $1.1646, while the Japanese yen
firmed to 158.85 per U.S. dollar in early trading as the safe
haven dollar gave up some of its recent gains.
Nasdaq futures were 0.89% higher and S&P futures
were up 0.6%.
Nick Twidale, chief market analyst at ATFX Global, expects the
market to embrace more risk on Monday but not to surge higher
until there is confirmation that the Strait of Hormuz will
reopen.
"We will need to see an agreement out in place in the coming
sessions as we know there are still some major sticking points,"
he said.
Japan's Nikkei was poised for a strong start to
Monday's session.
The most important issues for financial markets are when the
Strait of Hormuz will re-open, Commonwealth Bank of Australia
strategists said in a note.
"Under what conditions the Strait will re-open and how long
it will take to repair production facilities and infrastructure
to ramp up production of energy and other goods to pre-war
levels," they said.