U.S. Stock Market on Monday: S&P, Dow Jones, Nasdaq trading will be heavily impacted by these factors

U.S. stock market is all set to open on Monday after Easter weekend. S&P 500 futures, Dow Jones futures, Nasdaq futures, Russell 2000 futures were down in the pre-market trading. Wall Street investors will be tracking a number of factors.

Crude oil prices opened higher with US benchmark West Texas Intermediate up 1.86 per cent to $113.62 a barrel, as the war in the Middle East continues to squeeze global energy supplies. North Sea Brent crude was also higher at the week’s market opening, climbing 1.16 percent to $110.30 a barrel. U.S. oil prices had settled more than 11 per cent higher and Brent soared nearly 8 per cent on Thursday in volatile trading, as traders worried about prolonged disruptions to oil supply the day after President Donald Trump said the United States would continue attacks on Iran. Brent crude futures closed $7.87, or 7.78 per cent, higher at $109.03 a barrel.

U.S. stocks ended slightly mixed on Thursday after paring deeper losses, as diplomatic signals from the Middle East ​helped calm markets rattled earlier by U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats of tougher action against Iran ahead of a long holiday weekend. Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.13 per cent, to 46,504.67 points, the S&P 500 gained 0.11 per cent to 6,582.69 points and the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.18 per cent, to 21,879.18.

President Donald Trump has set a Tuesday deadline for Iran to end the war and reopen shipping in the critical Strait of Hormuz waterway, threatening in an expletive-laden social media post Sunday to strike the country’s power plants and bridges if it did not comply.

“Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform, before later telling Fox News he thought there was a “good chance” Iran would agree to a deal on Monday.

The war against Iran, entering its sixth week since the US and Israel first attacked Iran on February 28, has engulfed the Middle East in conflict and upended the global economy. Iran has virtually blocked the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 20 per cent of the world’s oil and gas transits, sending petroleum prices skyrocketing.