Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Tuesday that a U.S.-Iran agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz could be imminent, sending stock futures higher and oil prices lower ahead of the opening bell.
Bessent told CNBC's "Squawk Box" that "we are in talks with the Iranians," adding, "There is a chance we may have a deal today or tomorrow to open the Strait and move towards a more normalized position in this conflict."
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were up 600 points, equivalent to roughly 1.1%, with S&P 500 futures adding 0.3% and Nasdaq $NDAQ-100 futures also up 1.1%. West Texas Intermediate crude slid 4% to approximately $77 a barrel after Bessent spoke. Brent crude, the international benchmark, was off 3% at around $80 a barrel.
Strong earnings results added to the optimism. Caterpillar $CAT beat second-quarter expectations and lifted its revenue growth outlook, pointing to robust demand for its equipment and indicating that full-year tariff costs are likely to land at the low end of the range it had previously projected. Caterpillar stock led Dow futures higher, rising 9% before the open.
Palantir $PLTR Technologies delivered what CEO Alex Karp called "otherworldly" quarterly results, with the company's commercial revenue surging 149% to reach $764 million. Palantir stock gained more than 15% in premarket trading. Micron $MU Technology stock gained 4%, while Marvell Technology stock advanced 8%.
Tuesday's premarket gains build on Monday's rally, which carried the Dow to a record close and pushed Amazon $AMZN's market capitalization above $3 trillion for the first time; Nvidia $NVDA and Meta $META Platforms also notched solid advances. The S&P 500 finished Monday a mere 0.27% short of its all-time intraday peak.
"Animal spirits are buoyant to begin the month," Jose Torres, senior economist at Interactive Brokers, said on CNBC. He pointed to recent manufacturing and services data alongside earnings calls as reasons for confidence in capital return prospects.
SpaceX is drawing significant investor attention ahead of its inaugural quarterly earnings report as a public company, due out after Tuesday's close. The company's shares were trading 2% higher in premarket activity. Economic data due Tuesday include June factory orders and international trade figures.