U.S. stock futures pointed to modest gains Monday morning as investors weighed a new record-high close for the S&P 500 against renewed uncertainty over a resolution to the U.S.-Iran conflict. The S&P 500 futures contract rose 0.12% and the Nasdaq-100 equivalent gained 0.38%, while Dow Jones Industrial Average futures hovered just south of unchanged. WTI crude oil climbed more than 1% and Brent crude futures traded around $84 a barrel. Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araghchi declared Sunday that talks could not resume while Washington remained in breach of the June memorandum of understanding, and Tehran separately issued conditions for restoring access through the Strait of Hormuz, including a full American troop pullout, the lifting of all sanctions, and war reparations. Those signals stand in tension with remarks Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent made to CNBC last week indicating an agreement was close at hand, as well as with President Donald Trump's statement to Axios on Sunday that Washington was only semi-negotiating with Iran and intended to keep squeezing it economically. The three major indexes wrapped up their strongest week since April, with the S&P 500 reaching a fresh all-time closing high, after a weaker-than-expected July jobs report renewed expectations that the Federal Reserve may pause its rate-hiking campaign. Markets are now assigning about a 44% chance to a September rate increase, a sharp pullback from the 67% odds seen one week ago. Investors will be watching Wednesday's consumer price index report for July, with analysts anticipating annual consumer-price growth of 3.4%, a modest step down from June's 3.5% reading.
