Wall Street Bracing For Sharp Negative Open

(RTTNews) - Early signs from the U.S. Futures suggest that, Wall Street might be bracing for a sharp fall on Monday, in response to escalating geopolitical developments in the West Asia. It is expected that the global supply of crude oil will be severely disrupted and the price will be soaring to new highs. There are speculations that Brent could reach $100 per barrel, if the war situation continues.

The Labor Department's monthly jobs report is likely to be in the spotlight this week.

In the Asian trading session, the dollar strengthened, while gold jumped more than 2 percent to trade above $5,400 an ounce.

Oil prices were up 9 percent in view of risk to 21-mile-wide Strait of Hormuz, which handles at least 20 percent of the global oil supply.

As of 7.30 am ET, the Dow futures were losing 562.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were sliding 77.75 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were falling 367.00 points.

The U.S. major averages ended Friday in negative territory. The Dow slumped 521.28 points or 1.1 percent to 48,977.92, the Nasdaq slid 210.17 points or 0.9 percent to 22,688.21 and the S&P 500 fell 29.98 points or 0.4 percent to 6,878.88.

On the economic front, the PMI Manufacturing Final for February will be issued at 9.45 am ET. The consensus is 51.2, while the Flash was at 51.2.

The ISM Manufacturing Index for February will be released at 10.00 am ET. The consensus is 51.8, while it was up 52.6 in the prior month.

Six-month and 3-month Treasury bill acution will be held at 11.30 am ET.

Asian stocks drifted lower on Monday. Chinese benchmark Shanghai Composite index climbed 0.47 percent to 4,182.59. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index plunged 2.14 percent to 26,059.85.

Japanese markets lost ground. The Nikkei average fell 1.35 percent to 58,057.24. The broader Topix index settled 1.02 percent lower at 3,898.42.