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Stocks Fall Pre-Bell as Traders Monitor US-Iran Tensions, Await Nvidia Earnings

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Stocks Fall Pre-Bell as Traders Monitor US-Iran Tensions, Await Nvidia Earnings

The benchmark US stock measures were tracking in the red before the opening bell Monday as investors monitor the ongoing US-Iran tensions and await the latest financial results of tech bellwether Nvidia (NVDA) later in the week.

The S&P 500 declined 1.3%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.6% and the Nasdaq was off 0.1% in premarket activity. The indexes finished Friday trading lower.

Tensions between the US and Iran remain in focus amid no apparent progress toward a peace deal between the two sides. President Donald Trump said in a social media post on Sunday that the "clock is ticking" for Iran to agree to a deal and that "they better get moving, fast, or there won't be anything left of them."

Iran's semi-official Fars news agency said the US has set five main conditions for a peace deal, including transferring uranium tied to Tehran's nuclear program to Washington, Bloomberg News reported. Iran's Mehr news agency reportedly said the US has offered "no tangible concessions" to Tehran.

A drone attack caused a fire at a nuclear power plant in the United Arab Emirates on Sunday, while Saudi Arabia said it intercepted three drones that entered from Iraqi airspace, according to CNBC.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil rose 0.8% to $106.27 a barrel before the open, while Brent was up 0.7% to $110.08.

Nvidia is scheduled to release its latest quarterly results after the markets close on Wednesday. "We fully expect the leading supplier of AI silicon will again exceed estimates and guide above Street given continued positive data points through (the calendar first quarter)," Wedbush Securities said in a Monday client note.

Retail giants Walmart (WMT), Home Depot (HD), TJX (TJX), Lowe's (LOW) and Target (TGT) are also expected to announce their earnings this week.

Treasury yields were trending higher in premarket action, with the two-year rate increasing 0.4 basis points to 4.09% and the 10-year rate adding 0.8 basis points to 4.6%.

Monday's thin economic calendar has the housing market index for May at 10 am ET. Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta interim President Cheryl Venable is slated to speak at 8:30 am.

Shares of LiveRamp (RAMP) jumped 27% pre-bell after the data collaboration platform agreed to be acquired by French advertising and public relations firm Publicis Groupe in an all-cash deal with an enterprise value of about $2.17 billion. ServiceNow (NOW) was up nearly 3% while UnitedHealth (UNH) fell 4.9%.

Gold slipped 0.4% to $4,544 per troy ounce, while bitcoin fell 2% to $76,723.

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