Wall Street barely budged early Monday as geopolitics drew attention away from the economy and corporate earnings, which have been propelling markets to record levels.
Futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average were essentially unchanged before the bell.
Global markets were mixed and oil prices jumped after the weekend overthrow of Syrian leader Bashar Assad, who sought asylum in Moscow after rebels ended the Assad family’s 50 years of iron rule.
That added to uncertainty in a region fraught with conflict. U.S. benchmark crude oil jumped 84 cents to $68.04 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Brent crude, the international standard gained 79 cents to $71.91 per barrel.
There was little in the way of corporate news early Monday with earnings season mostly wrapped up heading into the holidays and new year.
Later this week, the U.S. government issues its latest inflation data at the both the consumer and wholesale levels.
Nvidia shares fell about 1.7% in premarket trading on reports that China was probing potential antitrust violations by the chipmaker.
Shares of The Interpublic Group of Companies soared 14.8% after the advertising company announced that it was being acquired by another industry giant, Omnicom. The all-stock deal is expected to close in the second half of 2025. Omnicom shares fell close to 3% before the bell Monday.
Apollo Global Management and Workday both jumped on news that they would be joining the S&P 500 before the end of the year. Apollo rose 5.8% and Workday climbed about 9% early Monday.
Elsewhere, in Europe at midday, Germany’s DAX fell 0.1%, while the CAC 40 in Paris and Britain’s FTSE 100 both climbed 0.6% higher.
Hong Kong shares bounced higher after top Chinese leaders met and agreed on a “moderately loose” monetary policy, shifting away from a more cautious “prudent” stance for the first time in 10 years.
Chinese shares were mixed, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rebounding from early losses to gain 2.8% to 20,414.09. The Shanghai Composite index fell less than 0.1% to 3,402.53.
Investors took heart from the state media’s readout from a meeting of the ruling Communist Party’s Politburo that pledged more support for the sluggish economy. A major planning meeting later this week is expected to set the policy agenda for coming months, possibly bringing fresh stimulus for the world’s No. 2 economy.
The Kospi in Seoul slumped 2.8% to 2,360.58.
South Korea’s political situation remained tense as local media reported that the police were considering imposing an overseas travel ban on President Yoon Suk Yeol. Yoon’s status was uncertain after he declared martial law last week in the midst of a budget dispute and then reversed that hours later.
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index edged 0.2% higher, to 39,160.50 after the government reported that the economy expanded at a 1.2% annual rate in July to September, higher than the initial estimate of 0.9% growth.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 was nearly unchanged at 8,423.00. India’s Sensex shed 0.3%, while Taiwan’s Taiex gained 0.3%. In Bangkok, the SET declined 0.3%.
In other dealings early Monday, Bitcoin had stabilized just above $98,200.
The euro rose to $1.0570 from $1.0561. The dollar was trading at 150.87 yen early Monday, up from 150.07 yen.
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