US pre-open: Futures mixed as traders continue to monitor uneasy ceasefire.


Wall Street futures were pointing to a mixed session ahead of the bell on Wednesday as traders continued to wonder if the ceasefire between Iran and Israel will last.

New York Stock Exchange

Source: Sharecast

As of 1230 BST, Dow Jones futures were down 0.10%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures had the indices opening 0.02% and 0.19% firmer, respectively.

The Dow closed 507.24 points higher on Tuesday despite Israeli claims that Iran had already breached a ceasefire agreement.

The Middle East conflict was in focus again on Wednesday, with market participants holding out hope that Donald Trump's recently announced ceasefire agreement will hold up. Trump already called for Israel to "calm down" after both it and Iran violated the ceasefire.

"Israel, as soon as we made the deal, they came out and they dropped a load of bombs, the likes of which I've never seen before, the biggest load that we've seen," he said. "We basically have two countries that have been fighting so long and so hard that they don't know what the f**k they're doing."

Elsewhere, testimony from Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell before the Senate Banking Committee will also likely draw an amount of investor attention.

On the data front, US mortgage applications increased by 1.10% in the week ended 20 June, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association of America, trimming the prior week's 2.6% drop. Applications to refinance a mortgage rose by 3%, while applications to purchase a home were broadly flat week-on-week.

Still to come, May's new home sales figures will be published at 1500 BST.

In terms of corporate news, General Mills and Micron were both slated to report earnings on Wednesday.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com

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