September 21, 2026 —

U.S. stock futures moved higher Monday as investors returned to technology shares while declining crude prices offered some relief to bond markets.

Dow E-minis rose 311 points, or 0.6%, while S&P 500 E-minis gained 48.75 points, or 0.63%. Nasdaq 100 E-minis climbed 327.25 points, or 1.09%, at 05:09 a.m. ET.

Oil prices dropped about 2%, helping push the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield below 5%. Investors have been monitoring energy prices closely because rising crude costs can increase inflationary pressure and make the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate decisions more difficult.

Technology stocks drove much of Monday’s gains. Intel rose 5.4%, Marvell advanced 2.6%, Meta gained 2.4% and Dell increased 2.7%. Accenture climbed 6% after announcing a partnership with Anthropic to invest $2 billion in AI evaluation.

The move higher in AI-related stocks followed a challenging period for the sector. Concerns expressed by executives at major AI companies had contributed to a sharp sell-off a week earlier. Investors shifted their attention Monday toward signs that spending on AI development was continuing at strong levels.

Companies sensitive to fuel costs also benefited from cheaper crude. Delta and American Airlines each rose about 1% as lower fuel prices reduced some pressure on the airlines.

Markets were also responding to a new period of monetary tightening. The Federal Reserve raised interest rates last week for the first time in more than three years as inflation remained elevated. Traders were assigning a 53% probability to another rate increase next month, according to CME Group’s FedWatch Tool.

Federal Reserve officials are scheduled to offer additional comments throughout the week. Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee is among the officials scheduled to speak Monday.

Geopolitical developments were another factor for investors. The United States and Iran continued trading threats over the weekend, although President Donald Trump said he was willing to meet Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, who is expected to be in New York for the United Nations General Assembly.

A separate diplomatic development involving the United States, Denmark and Greenland also boosted companies with exposure to the region. Critical Metals surged 30%, Greenland Mines gained 70% and Greenland Energy more than doubled.

Bitcoin rose 3.5% to reach a more than seven-month high. Coinbase gained 4.6%, while Strategy climbed 6.8%.

Warner Bros. shares advanced 7.6% following reports that Paramount and California’s attorney general had discussed concessions that could help address a regulatory hurdle facing Paramount’s proposed merger with Warner Bros. Discovery.

Investors are expected to continue focusing this week on central-bank policy, energy prices and geopolitical developments. Attention is also turning to Thursday’s planned meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Original article