U.S. stock futures were higher Tuesday, a day after the major averages suffered declines amid growing concerns that conflict in the Middle East could escalate once more.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials hiked 83 points, or 0.2%, to 49,162.
Futures for the S&P 500 gained 21.25 points, or 0.3%, to 7,251.50
Futures for the NASDAQ surged 135.5 points, or 0.5%. to 27,911.50.
Crude prices declined across the board, giving equity futures a boost. West Texas Intermediate crude futures dipped 2% to around $104 per barrel. Brent crude futures lost 1% to trade at above $112 a barrel.
Stocks fell on Monday after the United Arab Emirates said on Monday that Iran launched drones and missiles against it, putting an already fragile ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran on even shakier ground.
The U.S. reportedly said that it had sunk Iranian boats in the Strait of Hormuz. Admiral Brad Cooper, who leads U.S. Central Command, said on Monday afternoon that American forces had eliminated six small Iranian boats that were attempting to interfere with commercial shipping, Reuters reported.
However, Iranian state media denied that the boats had been sunk.
The news sent oil prices rose in Monday’s session, weighing on stocks.
PayPal shares gained nearly 3% after PayPal reported first quarter earnings of $1.34 per share, on an adjusted basis, on revenues of $8.35 billion. Analysts polled by LSEG had expected per-share earnings of $1.27 on revenues of $8.05 billion.
Anheuser-Busch InBev, the Budweiser parent, surged more than 7% after the company reported a quarterly earnings and revenue beat. Anheuser-Busch earned 97 cents per share on revenue of $15.27 billion. Analysts expected a profit of 89 cents per share on revenue of $14.87 billion, per LSEG.
In Japan, markets were closed for holiday, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong retreated 0.8 %
Oil prices curbed $1.81 to $104.61 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices regained $32.00 to $4,565.30 U.S an ounce.
