-- Wall Street futures pointed moderately lower pre-bell Monday while crude oil prices rose as traders mulled recurrent Middle East tensions.
Iran said Saturday it was again closing the Strait of Hormuz to shipping in response to Washington's refusal to lift its naval blockade.
In the futures, the S&P 500, the Nasdaq and the Dow Jones were all off about 0.5% from Friday's close.
West Texas Intermediate crude oil traded higher at $87.50, up 6% in morning action.
Investors this week also look forward to the March retail sales bulletin slated for a pre-bell release Tuesday in Washington, and the S&P Global flash composite purchasing manager index (PMI) for April, scheduled for a Thursday morning release.
The Senate Banking Committee will hold a hearing on the nomination of Kevin Warsh as Federal Reserve chairman on Tuesday morning.
Blue-chips reporting earnings later this week include Tesla (TSLA), Intel (INTC), Texas Instruments (TXN), International Business Machines (IBM), UnitedHealth Group (UNH), GE Aerospace (GE), RTX (RTX), Lockheed Martin (LMT), Boeing (BA), AT&T (T) and American Express (AXP), among others.
Asian exchanges traded mostly higher overnight, while European bourses tracked south midday on the continent.
The economic calendar is vacant.
In pre-market action, bitcoin traded at $75,304 and 10-year US Treasuries offered 4.26%. Spot gold commanded $4,797 an ounce.