After closing out its best month since 2023, Wall Street was poised to open with losses on Monday as the Russia-Ukraine conflict escalated over the weekend, contributing to broader market anxiety and a jump in oil prices, the Associated Press reports. Futures for the S&P 500 lost 0.4% before the opening bell Monday, while futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gave up 0.3%. Nasdaq futures retreated 0.6%.
In addition to rising tensions in the Russia-Ukraine war, oil prices and oil company stocks climbed after OPEC+ decided on a more modest increase in output than was expected. Devon Energy rose 2.5%, while Chevron, Exxon and ConocoPhillips all rose between 1% and 1.5%.
U.S. benchmark crude oil gained $2.54, more than 4%, to $63.33 per barrel, while Brent crude, the international standard, was up $2.34 at $65.12 per barrel.
Steel companies were on an even bigger ride after President Donald Trump on Friday told Pennsylvania steelworkers he’s doubling the tariff on steel imports to 50% to protect their industry, a dramatic increase that could further push up prices for a metal used to make housing, autos and other goods.
Nucor and Steel Dynamics both rose around 10%, while Cleveland-Cliffs soared a whopping 25%. Shares of U.S. Steel have already taken off this year as it has become increasingly clear that Trump was going to allow some kind of major deal between U.S. Steel and Japan’s Nippon Steel.
In currency trading early Monday, the U.S. dollar fell to 142.72 Japanese yen from 143.87 yen.
