US Stock Futures Point To Higher Open After Iran Deal Boosts Sentiment And Pushes Oil Prices Down, Ahead Of Pending Home Sales Data

U.S. stock index futures suggest a higher opening to markets on Monday, after Iran and six world powers, including the U.S., clinched a landmark nuclear deal, paving the way for easing economic sanctions on the oil-exporting nation.

Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 0.36 percent, futures on the Standard & Poor's 500 Index were up 0.31 percent and those on the Nasdaq 100 Index were up 0.32 percent.

On Friday, the S&P 500 closed above 1,800 -- at a new record high of 1,804.76 -- for the first time in history, ending higher for a seventh-straight week, buoyed by expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve would continue its asset-purchase program without cutbacks, at least in the near term. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also breached the 16,000 level last week to close at an all-time high of 16064.77 on Friday and ended higher for a seventh consecutive week.

Pending home sales data, released by the National Association of Realtors for the month of October, is due at 10:00 a.m. EST, and analysts expect the index to gain 2.2 percent on a monthly basis, following an unexpected decline of 5.6 percent in September.

In Europe, markets traded higher on Monday, as pharmaceutical companies and banks saw gains, while oil stocks fell following the Iran deal. The Stoxx Europe 600 index was up 0.53 percent, while London’s FTSE 100 was up 0.34 percent, Germany’s DAX-30 was up 0.94 percent and France's CAC-40 was up 0.55 percent.

The price of crude oil (West Texas Intermediate or WTI) dropped 1.46 percent to reach $93.46 while Brent crude fell 1.83 percent to hit $109.02 as of 5:30 a.m. EST on Monday, according to Bloomberg data.

In Asia, markets were mostly trading up on Monday, as oil prices fell and the yen weakened, following the Iran deal.

Japan’s Nikkei ended up 1.54 percent while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.3 percent. In China, the Shanghai Composite index lost 0.50 percent while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was down 0.05 percent. South Korea’s KOSPI Composite index added 0.50 percent while India’s BSE Sensex rose 1.92 percent.