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- Morning Watchlist: Middle East Tensions, FOMC Meeting in Focus
Morning Watchlist: Middle East Tensions, FOMC Meeting in Focus
Tom White
June 16, 2025
U.S. stock futures are rebounding from Friday’s sell-off amid optimism that the hostilities between Israel and Iran will remain contained. The outbreak of attacks between Israel and Iran on Friday disrupted the rally for stocks that had the S&P 500 back near all-time highs.
Investor focus will be on the Middle East today and looking ahead to the Fed announcement on Wednesday.
Morning Movers
Snapshot (as of 7 AM ET)
Oil (/CL) – Oil prices are down over 1% near $72.20 and pulling back from Friday’s rally, as renewed strikes by Israel and Iran over the weekend increased concerns that the battle could widen across the region and significantly disrupt oil exports from the Middle East.
Gold (/GC) – Gold prices are down 0.4% near $3440 after hitting two-month highs overnight, as intensified clashes between Israel and Iran over the weekend stoked fears of a broader regional conflict, pushing investors towards safe-haven assets.
Bitcoin (/BTC) – The Crypto Future is up over 1.5% near 107K in the premarket.
VIX – The CBOE Volatility Index spiked up 15.5% on Friday and settled at 20.82 as stocks fell sharply. It’s down another 4.5% to 19.9.
U.S. Dollar (/DX) – The dollar is down slightly to 97.6.
Biggest Premarket Movers
Symbol | Product | Mark % Change (as of 7 AM ET) |
|---|---|---|
INCY | Incyte | +9.46% |
SW | Smurfit Westrock | +3.57% |
CCL | Carnival | +2.37% |
NEM | Newmont | -1.78% |
MO | Altria Group | -1.71% |
ORCL | Oracle | -0.43% |
Economic Data
Time | Event |
|---|---|
8:30AM ET | Empire State Mfg. Index |
11:30AM ET | 3-Month Bill Auction 6-Month Bill Auction |
Notable Earnings
Premarket | Postmarket | Premarket Tomorrow | Postmarket Tomorrow |
|---|---|---|---|
None | LEN | JBL | LZB |
Upgrades/Downgrades
Deutsche Bank upgrades Cisco Systems (CSCO) to Buy from Hold
TD Cowen upgrades Celsius (CELH) to Buy from Hold
Scotiabank upgrades Freeport-McMoRan (FCX) to Outperform from Sector Perform
BofA downgrades CoreWeave (CRWV) to Neutral from Buy
BMO Capital downgrades Sarepta (SRPT) to Market Perform from Outperform
Piper Sandler downgrades Sarepta (SRPT) to Neutral from Overweight
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