US stock futures took a breather on Tuesday after a record-setting start to the week, as investors assessed concerns around a potential oil glut and the dollar’s growing strength.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures (YM=F) hovered above the flat line, after the blue-chip benchmark closed above 52,000 for the first time on Monday. Contracts on the S&P 500 (ES=F) and the Nasdaq 100 (NQ=F) were also little changed after a rally in tech stocks fueled sharp gains.
Investors are heading into the last trading day of the second quarter and first half of 2026 buoyed by a Supreme Court ruling that left Federal Reserve independence intact, for now, and by the prospect of potential US-Iran peace talks in Qatar starting Tuesday.
At the same time, oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz are recovering faster than expected, prompting a shift from fears of crude shortages to warnings of a looming glut. Oil prices continued to fall, poised for a quarterly drop with Brent (BZ=F) futures trading below $74 a barrel and WTI futures (CL=F) below $71.
The relentless rise in the dollar was also worrying Wall Street, as it pushed the yen to a 40-year low to prompt talk of intervention by Japan. HSBC warned the greenback’s rally could become “explosive” if the Federal Reserve hints it’s prepared to tighten policy
A JOLTS reading on job openings in May due later Tuesday is likely to feed into bets on Fed interest-rate hikes this year, as could a Conference Board update on consumer confidence. The labor data sets the stage for the June jobs report, set for release on Thursday.
On the corporate front, Nike (NKE) is expected report its quarterly results on Tuesday, coming at a challenging time for the sportswear maker.