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(RTTNews) - Following the strength seen during last Friday's session, stocks may show a lack of direction in early trading on Monday. The major index futures are currently pointing to a roughly flat open for the markets, with the S&P 500 futures down by less than a tenth of a percent.
Uncertainty about the situation in the Middle East may keep some traders on the sidelines after President Donald Trump said over the weekend that he would be reviewing a new peace proposal from Iran but said he "can't imagine that it would be acceptable."
"They have not yet paid a big enough price for what they have done to Humanity, and the World, over the last 47 years," Trump said of Iran in a post on Truth Social.
Trump said in a separate post that the U.S. would soon begin helping to "free" ships from countries not involved with the Middle East dispute that are stranded due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
"If, in any way, this Humanitarian process is interfered with, that interference will, unfortunately, have to be dealt with forcefully," Trump said.
The news of the president's plan comes amid reports Iran's Navy has blocked "American-Zionist" warships from entering the Strait of Hormuz.
Iranian state media also claimed the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps hit a U.S. warship with two missiles, although U.S. Central Command denied the report and said, "No U.S. Navy ships have been struck."
Traders may also be reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release of the closely watched monthly jobs report on Friday.
After showing a strong move to the upside early in the session, stocks gave back ground over the course of the trading day on Friday. The major averages pulled back well off their highs of the session, with the Dow sliding into negative territory.
The major averages eventually ended the day mixed. While the Dow fell 152.87 points or 0.3 percent to 49,499.27, the S&P 500 rose 21.11 points or 0.3 percent to 7,320.12 and the Nasdaq advanced 222.13 points or 0.9 percent to 25,144.44.
Despite pulling back off their best levels of the day, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 still finished the session at new record closing highs.
The major averages also moved to the upside for the week. The Nasdaq jumped by 1.1 percent, the S&P 500 climbed by 0.9 percent and the Dow increased by 0.6 percent.
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher on Monday, with markets in Japan and mainland China closed for holidays. South Korea's Kospi spiked by 5.1 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index shot up by 1.2 percent.
Meanwhile, most European stocks have moved to the downside on the day. With the U.K.' markets closed for a holiday, the German Index is just below the unchanged line and the French CAC 40 Index is down by 0.8 percent.
In commodities trading, crude oil futures are jumping $1.49 to $103.43 a barrel after plummeting $3.13 to $102.50 a barrel last Friday. Meanwhile, after rising $14.90 to $4,644.50 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are slumping $61.10 to $4,583.40 an ounce.
On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 157.07 yen versus the 157.03 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Friday. Against the euro, the dollar is trading at $1.1707 compared to last Friday's $1.1720.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
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