U.S. stock index futures are signaling a strong start to Monday’s session, suggesting that markets may recover some of the losses recorded last week.
The early momentum appears to be driven by a sharp decline in crude oil prices, which are down about 3.2% after surging 8.6% during the previous week.
The drop in oil prices followed comments from President Donald Trump urging other nations to assist in safeguarding the Strait of Hormuz.
“I’m demanding that these countries come in and protect their own territory, because it is their territory. It’s the place from which they get their energy,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday. “And they should come and they should help us protect it.”
“Why are we maintaining the Hormuz Strait when it’s really there for China and many other countries?” he asked. “Why aren’t they doing it?”
Another factor potentially supporting stocks is bargain hunting after last Friday’s sell-off pushed the major indexes to their lowest closing levels in more than three months.
After heavy losses on Thursday, stocks initially bounced back in early trading on Friday. However, the rebound faded as the session progressed, with the main indexes reversing direction and finishing the day in negative territory.
By the close, the major averages had deepened the previous session’s declines and reached new three-month closing lows. The Nasdaq dropped 206.62 points, or 0.9%, to 22,105.36. The S&P 500 slipped 10.43 points, or 0.6%, to 6,632.19, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 119.38 points, or 0.3%, ending at 46,558.47.
For the full week, the Dow fell 2.0%, the S&P 500 declined 1.6%, and the Nasdaq dropped 1.3%.
Much of the market’s movement during the session was tied to fluctuations in crude oil prices.
At the start of Friday’s trading, equities gained support from a decline in oil prices, with April crude futures falling as much as 3.9% after soaring over the previous two sessions.
However, oil later reversed course and climbed sharply during the day, triggering renewed selling pressure in the stock market.
The volatility in oil prices followed increasingly aggressive remarks from President Donald Trump regarding Iran, calling the regime “deranged scumbags” that he has the “great honor” to kill.
On the economic front, a closely watched report from the Commerce Department showed that annual consumer price growth slowed unexpectedly in January.
According to the report, the year-over-year increase in the PCE price index eased to 2.8% in January from 2.9% in December. Economists had expected the pace of inflation to remain unchanged.
Meanwhile, the core PCE price index—which excludes food and energy—rose to 3.1% in January from 3.0% the previous month. Economists had also expected this measure to hold steady.
Another Commerce Department report indicated that U.S. economic growth in the fourth quarter of 2025 was weaker than previously estimated.
Among individual sectors, gold mining stocks declined sharply alongside the price of gold, sending the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index down 5.2% to its lowest closing level in more than a month.
Steel stocks also experienced notable losses, reflected in a 2.7% drop in the NYSE Arca Steel Index.
Airline and software companies were also under pressure, while utilities and natural gas stocks managed to post gains during the session.