Stock Market Today: S&P 500, Dow Futures Fall as US-Iran Tensions Flare Up—WMT, RZLV, FNGR in Focus

U.S. stock futures were lower on Monday, as the Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 indices fell, following Friday’s lower close.

Geopolitical and trade anxieties spiked over the weekend following U.S. military strikes on Iranian rocket launchers on Larak Island near the Strait of Hormuz, which triggered Iranian missile and drone retaliation against U.S. air bases in Jordan on Sunday. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump intensified trade tensions by calling Canada "the worst" for trade abuses and asserting his tariffs have "saved" the U.S. auto industry.

The market will turn toward key economic indicators this week, highlighted by Friday’s crucial August employment data. Investors will also be tracking a busy earnings lineup this week, featuring top AI infrastructure providers such as Dell Technologies Inc. (NYSE:DELL), Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. (NYSE:HPE), and Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO), along with cybersecurity leader Palo Alto Networks Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW).

On Friday, Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh used his first Jackson Hole address to warn investors that the fight against inflation remains far from finished. He delivered a hawkish message: inflation remains too high, the labor market is effectively at full employment, and financial conditions may not be restraining the economy much at all.

The 10-year Treasury bond yielded 4.71%, and the two-year bond was at 4.31%. The CME Group’s FedWatch tool projections show markets pricing a 61.9% likelihood of the Federal Reserve hiking the current interest rates during its September meeting.

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) and Invesco QQQ Trust ETF (NASDAQ:QQQ), which track the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100, respectively, were lower in premarket on Monday. The SPY was down 0.12% at $768.44, while the QQQ declined by 0.043% to $716.74.

Stocks In Focus

BiomX

• BiomX Inc. (NYSE:PHGE) tumbled 5.35% after disclosing a 1-for-10 reverse stock split of common stock.

• Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings indicate that PHGE maintains a weak price trend in the short, long, and medium terms.

Walmart

• Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) was just 0.049% higher as it agreed to pay $50 million to settle a Department of Justice lawsuit alleging its pharmacies unlawfully filled opioid prescriptions, fueling the national opioid epidemic.

• Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings indicate that WMT maintains a weak price trend in the short, long, and medium terms, with a good growth score.

ONEOK

• ONEOK Inc. (NYSE:OKE) was up 0.27% after it agreed to acquire Brazos Midstream’s Permian Midland Basin assets for a $4.425 billion all-cash transaction along with a $9 billion minority equity investment.

• Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings indicate that OKE maintains a strong price trend in the short, long, and medium terms, with a solid value score.

Rezolve AI

• Rezolve AI PLC (NASDAQ:RZLV) was 3.39% higher as it announced a global strategic alliance with Tech Mahindra Ltd. to accelerate the deployment of agentic commerce across large enterprises worldwide.

• Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings indicate that RZLV maintains a strong price trend in the short and medium terms but a weak trend in the long term.

FingerMotion

• FingerMotion Inc. (NASDAQ:FNGR) corrected by 15.83% in premarket on Monday after soaring 129.53% on Friday as investors reacted to corporate updates detailing new management’s strategic pivot into behind-the-meter artificial intelligence and high-performance computing data center infrastructure across North America and its alliance with BlueFlare Energy Solutions Inc.

• Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings indicate that FNGR maintains a weak price trend in the long, short, and medium terms.

Cues From Last Session

Consumer discretionary and communication services stocks bucked the overall market trend to end higher on Friday, while most S&P 500 sectors closed lower, led down by information technology, utilities, and industrials.

Insights From Analysts

Mohamed El-Erian highlights a market caught between “a tug-of-war between top-down macro policy and bottom-up corporate earnings”. While robust corporate fundamentals continue to cushion sentiment—driven by big tech performers like Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA) and Broadcom—underlying structural pressures threaten broader market stability.

El-Erian observes that U.S. equities face significant crosscurrents, particularly from sovereign debt dynamics. Rising U.S. yields—with the 10-year at 4.73% and 30-year at 5.20%—reflect growing “flow-of-funds strain facing the US bond market,” exacerbated by foreign sales of U.S. securities.

Although the Treasury’s impulse to suppress long-end yields is understandable to protect housing and consumer affordability, El-Erian warns of “valid warnings of market distortion and unintended systemic side effects.”

On policy, Federal Reserve Chair Warsh’s debut Jackson Hole address delivered a “hawkish” assessment. Markets now price in an increased probability of a September rate hike, as domestic macro signals remain mixed. With key data like the August Employment Report on the horizon, El-Erian expects ongoing volatility across energy, foreign exchange, and sovereign yields to dictate near-term direction.

Upcoming Economic Data

Here’s what investors will be keeping an eye on this week.

• No data is scheduled to be released on Monday.

• On Tuesday, August’s flash S&P U.S. manufacturing PMI data will be released by 9:45 a.m., while August’s ISM manufacturing PMI, July’s construction spending, and July’s JOLTS job openings data will all be out by 10:00 a.m. ET.

• On Wednesday, August’s ADP national employment report will be released by 8:15 a.m., followed by July’s factory orders data at 10:00 a.m., and the Federal Reserve’s Beige Book release at 2:00 p.m. ET.

• On Thursday, initial jobless claims for the week ending Aug. 29, July’s U.S. trade balance data, and Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller‘s remarks at the Reuters NEXT Newsmaker Interview will all be released by 8:30 a.m. ET.

• August’s flash S&P U.S. services PMI will be out by 9:45 a.m., August’s ISM services PMI will be released by 10:00 a.m., and Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack alongside Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee will deliver special remarks at the ‘Connecting Communities’ online event at 3:00 p.m. ET.

• On Friday, August’s employment report, unemployment rate, and average hourly earnings data will all be out by 8:30 a.m. ET.

Commodities, Crypto, And Global Equity Markets

Crude Oil WTI futures were trading higher in the early New York session by 3.45% to hover around $86.34 per barrel.

Gold Spot US Dollar fell 0.37% to hover around $4,438.70 per ounce. The U.S. Dollar Index spot was 0.13% lower at the 99.5690 level.

Meanwhile, Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) was trading 0.50% higher at $78,411.64 per coin over the last 24 hours.

Asian markets were mixed on Monday, as South Korea’s Kospi and China’s CSI 300 indices rose. Australia’s ASX 200, India’s Nifty 50, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng, and Japan’s Nikkei 225 indices fell. European markets were mixed in early trading.

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