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Middle East Conflict Front & Center
Tom White
June 20, 2025
U.S. stock futures are slightly higher ahead of the Wall Street open with investors monitoring conflict in the Middle East between Iran and Israel, and potential direct U.S. involvement. The White House said President Donald Trump would decide within two weeks, and there was a “substantial chance” of a negotiated settlement.
The moves come following the Fed’s decision to hold interest rates steady on Wednesday. Stocks closed lower following Powell’s comments, which essentially said that the Fed is in no hurry to cut benchmark rates and will remain data dependent, especially as it remains unclear how Trump’s tariffs will impact the economy.
Morning Movers
Snapshot (as of 7 AM ET)
Oil (/CL) – Oil futures are down 0.3% near $73 a barrel after the White House delayed a decision on U.S. involvement in the Israel-Iran conflict, but they were still poised for a third straight week in the black.
Gold (/GC) – Gold prices are down 1% near $3370 and were on track for a weekly decline, as an overall stronger dollar and the prospect of fewer U.S. interest rate cuts offset support from rising geopolitical risks in the Middle East.
Bitcoin (/BTC) – The Crypto Future is up 2% above 106K in the premarket.
VIX – The CBOE Volatility Index fell 6.8% on Wednesday and settled at 20.14 as stocks were flat.
U.S. Dollar (/DX) – The dollar is down slightly to 98.3.
Biggest Premarket Movers
Symbol | Product | Mark % Change (as of 7 AM ET) |
|---|---|---|
KMX | CarMax | +10.52% |
DRI | Darden Restaurants | +3.25% |
COIN | Coinbase | +2.17% |
ACN | Accenture | -4.20% |
IBM | IBM | -0.89% |
NEM | Newmont | -0.88% |
Economic Data
Time | Event |
|---|---|
8:30AM ET | Philly Fed Mfg. Index |
10:00AM ET | Leading Economic Indicators |
4:30PM ET | Fed Balance Sheet |
Notable Earnings
Premarket | Postmarket | Premarket Monday | Postmarket Monday |
|---|---|---|---|
ACN, KMX, DRI, KR | None | CMC, FDS | KBH |
Upgrades/Downgrades
First Shanghai Securities upgrades Apple (AAPL) to Buy from Hold
Wells Fargo upgrades Mondelez (MDLZ) to Overweight from Equal Weight
Wolfe Research upgrades Charter (CHTR) to Peer Perform from Underperform
Oppenheimer downgrades Johnson Controls (JCI) to Perform from Outperform
BMO Capital downgrades Public Storage (PSA) to Market Perform from Outperform
Stifel downgrades Jack in the Box (JACK) to Hold from Buy
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