LIVE MARKETS-US stock futures slide amid Middle East conflict

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US STOCK FUTURES SLIDE AMID MIDDLE EAST CONFLICT

U.S. stock index futures are under pressure early on Monday, with investors increasingly pricing in the prospect that the conflict in the Middle East could persist for weeks, potentially disrupting global trade flows and adding to inflationary pressures.

Indeed, E-mini Dow futures YMcv1 are trading down around 1% ahead of the opening bell.

Of note, the Dow Jornes Industrial Average .DJI did eke out a 0.18% rise in February, allowing it to score its 10th straight monthly gain. The blue-chip average's last 10-month winning streak ended in January 2018. The last time the Dow rose more than 10 straight months was a 12-month stretch of gains that ended in February 1959.

With the futures' weakness, the DJI, which ended Friday at 48,977.92, is expected to fall more than 500 points shortly after the open. Thus, the Dow will slide toward its rising 100-day moving average $(DMA)$, which ended Friday at 48,100.

A decline to the 100-DMA would put the Dow down about 4.2% from its 50,188.14 February 10 record close, and down about 4.8% from its 50,512.79 February 10 record intraday high.

The Dow last closed below this longer-term moving average on June 13, 2025. The moving average contained weakness at the end of the Dow's November more-than-5% pullback from its then-record highs.

The 23.6% Fibonacci retracement of the April 2025-February 2026 advance is at 47,232.

The rising 200-DMA ended Friday at 46,184. A decline to this closely followed long-term moving average would put the DJI down about 7.9% from its record close and 8.5% from its record intraday high.

The 50-day moving average, which ended Friday at 49,094, is now a hurdle on an upside reversal.

(Terence Gabriel)

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EARLIER ON LIVE MARKETS:

THREE VARIABLES ALLIANZ GI IS WATCHING AMID MIDDLE EAST CONFLICT CLICK HERE

MIDDLE EAST CONFLICT: WHAT IT MEANS FOR THE BOE, ECB CLICK HERE

HOLD YOUR NERVES - BARCLAYS CLICK HERE

STOXX SHUDDERS AS IRAN CONFLICT LIFTS OIL, SINKS TRAVEL CLICK HERE

BEFORE THE BELL: EUROPE'S FUTURES DOWN SHARPLY; DEFENCE, AIRLINES, OIL STOCKS ON THE RADAR CLICK HERE

DIRE STRAITS FOR GLOBAL OIL TRADE CLICK HERE

(Terence Gabriel is a Reuters market analyst. The views expressed are his own)