By Caitlin McCabe

Oil prices are rising for a ninth straight day amid fears of renewed escalation with Iran.

Brent crude futures jumped after Axios reported that President Trump is set to be briefed on new military options for Iran aimed at breaking the deadlock in peace talks.

Futures for July delivery-the most actively traded contract-rose past $112 a barrel. Meanwhile, those for June delivery, which expire today and are more affected by disruptions in physical oil flows, surged to around $122.

Concerns about the conflict in the Middle East are also weighing on U.S. stock futures, which are mostly lower despite blockbuster earnings from America's biggest tech companies. The exception is Nasdaq-100 contracts, which are edging up slightly. Stock indexes in Asia and Europe are also mostly lower.

Microsoft, Alphabet, Meta Platforms and Amazon reported strong earnings yesterday, partly thanks to the proliferation of AI tools. Yet not all investors were satisfied, with the tech stocks diverging in off-hours trading. Meta shares are down 7% after the Facebook owner said it would spend even more money to build out AI data centers this year. Meanwhile, shares in Google parent Alphabet were up 6% premarket after the company reported a boom in its cloud business.

Investors will get another look under Big Tech's hood when Apple reports earnings after today's close.

Before then, both the Bank of England and European Central Bank will announce their latest interest-rate decisions. The Federal Reserve held rates steady yesterday.

The Fed's preferred inflation gauge for March and a reading on first-quarter GDP are also due before the opening bell.

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 30, 2026 05:37 ET (09:37 GMT)

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