Stock futures are falling after the U.S. said it launched new strikes on Iran Sunday evening.
The announcement, by U.S. Central Command, which said it was at the orders of the Commander in Chief, said the strikes began at 5 p.m. Eastern time. That was about an hour before the start of futures trading.
S&P 500 futures were down 0.3%, while Nasdaq 100 futures were down 0.4%, and Dow futures were down 0.2%. International benchmark oil futures were up about 3.22%, to just under $79 a barrel, and U.S. oil futures were up 3.23% to around $74 a barrel.
U.S. Central Command said earlier Sunday that the Strait of Hormuz is open "to all vessels" trying to transit the critical waterway, while Iran said it remains closed. The messages came out after U.S. forces launched a third round of strikes against Iran, which it says was in response to an attack on a commercial ship in the strait.
"U.S. forces are positioned and prepared to ensure that freedom of navigation remains available despite unwarranted Iranian aggression," referring to Iran's attacks on a commercial ship in the strait, U.S. Central Command said on social media.
Central Command said Iran doesn't control the Strait.
The Islamic Republic News Agency, Iran's official news agency, said on social media that all transit through the Strait "is temporarily unavailable."
"Once conditions stabilize and normalcy returns, applications will be processed sequentially and clearances will be granted accordingly," it said.
President Donald Trump on Sunday told NBC News' Meet the Press' Kristen Welker that "We bombed the hell out of them last night. They're very, very evil and sick people. We had meetings with them. They agreed to a deal yesterday, a perfect deal for us. No nuclear, no this, no that, no nothing. They gave up everything. And then after that, they left the room. And then within an hour, they launched a drone at a ship."
The economic highlight of this coming week is the consumer price index for June, which the Bureau of Labor Statistics will release Tuesday. Big banks will kick off earnings reports this week, with more than half of the 30 S&P 500 companies reporting from the financial sector.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended last week down 0.5%, snapping a four-week winning streak and posting the largest one-week point and percentage decline since the week ending March 27, according to Dow Jones Market Data. The Dow is up 9.5% so far this year.
The S&P 500 closed the week up 1.2%, in the largest two-week point and percentage gain since the week ending May 8, and is up 3% over the past two weeks. The S&P 500 is up nearly 10.7% year to date.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite closed up 1.7% last week, notching the largest two-week point and percentage gain since the week ending May 15, and is up 3.9% over the past two weeks. The Nasdaq is up 13.1% this year.