US open: Stocks open lower ahead of Trump's Iran announcement
ALPHABET-A
$156.01
13:09 18/04/24
Wall Street trading started on a slightly weaker note on Tuesday as investors awaited an announcement from Donald Trump regarding his position on the Iran nuclear deal.
Nasdaq 100
17,394.31
12:15 18/04/24
At 1500 BST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 were both down 0.23%, while the Nasdaq had lost 0.27%.
Trump had tweeted on Monday evening: "I will be announcing my decision on the Iran deal tomorrow from the White House."
The tweet came as a bit of a surprise, as the deadline set by the White House itself to take a decision ran until 12 May.
Rebecca O'Keeffe, head of investment at Interactive Investor, said: "Oil prices have risen inexorably over recent weeks as the market has anticipated a decision by President Trump to abandon the anti-nuclear deal agreed between the west and Iran. Everyone has known for months that Trump was adamantly opposed to the deal, but now we will, at last, discover whether he is prepared to abandon multilateral western diplomacy in favour of a return to unilateral US sanctions.
"However, while oil is the focus of attention for markets, the prospect of increasing tensions in the region should President Trump follow through on his threats is also a concern, not least in terms of what Tehran might do in a region already beset by political risks."
Elsewhere, data out of China earlier showed the country's exports bounced back in April more strongly than expected. Exports were up 12.9% from a year earlier, beating expectations for a 6.3% jump and rebounding from a 2.7% fall in March.
On the corporate front, US-listed shares of Shire picked up 1% in early trade after its board agreed to a takeover offer from Japan's Takeda Pharmaceutical in a mix of cash and shares that values the biotech at roughly £46bn.
21st Century Fox gained 2.37% amid reports that Comcast is readying an all-cash offer for Fox assets that would trump Disney's.
AMC Entertainment Holdings lost 0.29% at the open despite better-than-expected first-quarter earnings late on Monday and rental car company Hertz Global Holdings dropped 8.62% after posting a bigger-than-expected quarterly loss.
Dean Foods shot up 14.51% and Valeant Pharmaceuticals jumped 13.71% after reporting earnings beats ahead of the open.
Google was also drawing some attention ahead of its annual developers' conference.
No major economic reports were scheduled for release on Tuesday.