Stock Market Today: Dow Jones, S&P 500 Futures Fall as Trump Rejects Extending Ceasefire With Iran—Home D

2026.08.18 09:53 (GMT+0)

U.S. stock futures were lower on Monday, as the Dow Jones, Nasdaq 100 and S&P 500 indices fell, following Monday’s lower close.

Brent Crude futures were trading above $91, as geopolitical tensions escalated after President Donald Trump rejected extending a temporary ceasefire with Iran. The standoff, compounded by Tehran’s threat to adopt a “fully offensive” military posture, has renewed fears over energy supplies and potential disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz.

Meanwhile, the 10-year Treasury bond yielded 4.74%, and the two-year bond was at 4.19%. The CME Group’s FedWatch tool projections show markets pricing a 36.6% likelihood of the Federal Reserve hiking the current interest rates during its September meeting.

Index	Performance (+/-)
Dow Jones	-0.11%
S&P 500	-0.51%
Nasdaq 100	-1.13%
Russell 2000	-0.31%

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE: SPY ) and Invesco QQQ Trust ETF (NASDAQ: QQQ ), which track the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100, respectively, were lower in premarket on Tuesday. The SPY was down 0.50% at $768.80, while the QQQ declined by 1.12% to $721.68.

Stocks In Focus

Duos Technologies Group

Duos Technologies Group Inc. (NASDAQ: DUOT ) jumped 9.44% in premarket on Tuesday after reporting better-than-expected second-quarter financial results. Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings indicate that DUOT maintains a strong price trend in the long, short, and medium terms.

Flexsteel Industries

Flexsteel Industries Inc. (NASDAQ: FLXS ) was 9.02% higher after posting better-than-expected fourth-quarter financial results. It reported earnings of $1.33 per share, which beat the analyst consensus estimate of $1.09 per share, and sales of $115.365 million, which beat the analyst consensus estimate of $109.663 million. Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings indicate that FLXS maintains a strong price trend in the short, long, and medium terms, with a moderate growth score.

Super League Enterprise

Super League Enterprise Inc. (NASDAQ: SLE ) declined by 12.25% after surging 33.04% higher on Monday as it reported an adjusted loss of $1 per share, beating the consensus estimate of a $1.78 loss and revenue of $3.01 million, below the consensus estimate of $3.40 million. Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings indicate that SLE maintains a weak price trend in the short, long, and medium terms.

Fabrinet

Fabrinet (NYSE: FN ) plunged 9.11% despite beating top- and bottom-line estimates for the fourth quarter. Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings indicate that FN maintains a strong price trend in the long and short terms but a weak trend in the medium term, with a good quality score.

Home Depot

Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD ) was 0.33% higher as it is supposed to report earnings before the opening bell. Analysts expect earnings of $4.73 per share on revenue of $47.27 billion. Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings indicate that HD maintains a strong price trend in the short and medium terms but a weak trend in the long term, with a bad value score.

Cues From Last Session

Communication services, consumer staples, and financial stocks led most S&P 500 sectors lower on Monday as energy stocks bucked the trend to close higher, dragging U.S. equities down as the Dow lost over 250 points amid rising Middle East tensions.

Insights From Analysts

LPL Financial maintains a positive outlook on the U.S. stock market and economy, supported by a firming macroeconomic backdrop. The firm’s Strategic and Tactical Asset Allocation Committee maintains a “tactical equity overweight,” projecting that “an improving macro backdrop and sustained AI-driven earnings growth will continue to support the broader equity market through the remainder of 2026.”

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Regarding the broader economy, LPL sees clear signs of stabilization. The U.S. continues to act as a primary global growth engine, with business activity strengthening as reflected in expanding Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) data.

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Furthermore, recent economic indicators—including cooling inflation and soft employment reports—have shifted market expectations toward an extended monetary pause. LPL notes that “the Fed’s most likely next move is to keep the federal funds rate unchanged,” which has bolstered investor risk appetite and helped push equities to new highs.

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While LPL emphasizes high-quality assets due to tight credit spreads, its overall view signals confidence that strong fundamental growth drivers will keep the U.S. expansion on solid ground.

Upcoming Economic Data

Here’s what investors will be keeping an eye on Tuesday.

July housing starts and building permits, along with import and export prices, will be released by 8:30 a.m. ET. July’s industrial production and capacity utilization data will be out by 9:15 a.m., and July’s pending home sales index data will be released by 10:00 a.m. ET.

Commodities, Crypto, And Global Equity Markets

Crude Oil WTI futures were trading higher in the early New York session by 0.74% to hover around $84.36 per barrel.

Gold Spot US Dollar fell 0.53% to hover around $4,393.21 per ounce. The U.S. Dollar Index spot was 0.01% higher at the 99.6500 level.

Meanwhile, Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) was trading 1.40% higher at $64,198.86 per coin over the last 24 hours.

Asian markets were mixed on Tuesday, as Hong Kong’s Hang Seng and China’s CSI 300 indices rose. Australia’s ASX 200, India’s Nifty 50, Japan’s Nikkei 225, and South Korea’s Kospi indices fell. European markets were mostly lower in early trading.

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