Stock futures fall after Trump ultimatum to Iran; Wall Street tries to snap 4-week slide: Live updates

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange during morning trading on February 24, 2026 in New York City.

Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images

Stock futures were little changed Sunday night, weighed by the U.S.’ latest warning against Iran, after the major U.S. benchmarks posted their fourth-straight weekly slide.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures traded around the flatline. S&P 500 futures shed 0.1%, and Nasdaq-100 futures pulled back by 0.2%.

Those moves came as the Iran war entered its fourth week, with tensions escalating over the weekend. President Donald Trump threatened an attack on Iranian power plants if the Strait of Hormuz — a key shipping route for oil and other energy products — isn’t reopened. Iran responded in turn said it would target U.S. infrastructure, including energy and desalination facilities in the Gulf, if the U.S. carried out its threat.

Crude prices rose in early trading Sunday. West Texas Intermediate futures climbed 0.5% to $98.73 per barrel. International benchmark Brent advanced 0.5% to $112.76.

“Clearly, Iran is not backing down,” wrote Ben Emons, CIO and founder of Fed Watch Advisors. “The risk-off sentiment could worsen substantially this week, with the first visible macro effects in a deluge of global PMI data. … Portfolio de-risking could continue, making cash a viable asset again.”

The S&P Global Flash U.S. PMI report is due Tuesday morning.

Investors will also be keeping an eye on support levels. The S&P 500 last week broke below its 200-day moving average for the first time since May.

The Dow and Nasdaq fell around 2% each last week, while the S&P 500 lost 1.5%. For the Dow, it also marks its first four-week losing streak since 2023.

Investors reluctant to embrace breakout in energy, says Oppenheimer

“We sense reluctance among investors to embrace the Energy sector’s breakout, driven by fears a single headline could trigger a sharp oil reversal,” wrote Ari Wald, head of technical analysis at Oppenheimer. “We see a more balanced outcome: WTI holds a higher trading range of $75-$100, with energy stocks consolidating on oil dips and making higher highs on rallies; similar to the 1990s pattern. We recommend maintaining Energy exposure and buying weakness.”

Energy is the only positive S&P 500 sector since the U.S.-Iran war began, up 5.9% in that time. Year to date, it’s up a whopping 31.8%.

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XLE in 2026

— Fred Imbert

Watch semis this week, says Fundstrat

Fundstrat technical strategist Mark Newton thinks semiconductor stocks could be vulnerable if the VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) breaks below $369. It closed Friday’s session at $384.74.

“There very well could be a rotation back lower in both Memory stocks, Optical names, along with many of the Semi, and Semi-cap Equipment stocks before the US stock market bottoms,” he wrote to clients. “If this doesn’t happen next week and indices stabilize and begin to rally, then I believe this would happen into April and cause a “final” selloff for Technology into April/May before a bottom and a meaningful rally into Summer.”

— Fred Imbert