(Sharecast News) - Wall Street futures were broadly flat ahead of the bell on Monday as investors weighed the latest signals from negotiations to end the Iran conflict and looked ahead to a key inflation reading later in the week.
As of 1245 BST, Dow Jones and Nasdaq-100 futures were had the indices opening 0.01% and 0.06% firmer, respectively, while S&P 500 futures were down 0.09%.
The New York Stock Exchange was closed on Friday in observance of the Juneteenth holiday.
Brent crude slipped into negative territory after mediators Qatar and Pakistan said US and Iranian officials had agreed to a roadmap aimed at securing a final deal within 60 days, according to the report. West Texas Intermediate was down 0.65% at $75.36 a barrel.
Outside of geopolitics, the main focus for markets this week will be Thursday's May personal consumption expenditures index, the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge, with economists expecting to see core PCE, which strips out volatile food and energy costs, to rise from April's level, keeping pressure on the central bank.
Following last week's hawkish Fed meeting, traders brought forward expectations of the next interest‑rate increase to as early as October. With rate‑hike bets firming, investors will now be highly sensitive to any inflation data that could reinforce the case for tighter policy.
As for Monday's macro headlines, Federal Reserve governor Christopher Waller will deliver a speech at 1400 BST.
No major corporate earnings were slated for release on Monday.
Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com