US Stock Futures Steady After AI Rally; Investors Eye US-Iran Talks, Oil Prices

US equity futures held steady on Tuesday, September 22, 2026, as investors digested the prior session's AI-driven rally and awaited potential US-Iran negotiations that could ease Middle East tensions. At 7:12 a.m. ET, Dow futures rose 111 points (0.21%), S&P 500 futures added 2.5 points (0.03%), and Nasdaq 100 futures gained 15.5 points (0.05%). Brent crude fell 1.6% to near $100 per barrel, while the US 10-year Treasury yield stood at 4.9%. A senior Iranian official said Tehran could reopen the Strait of Hormuz within seven days if the US reduces pressure. Saudi Arabia has resumed operations on its East-West pipeline. Markets are focused on possible US-Iran talks on the sidelines of this week's UN General Assembly and a US-China summit on Thursday. Meta Platforms (META-US) surged 11.3% Monday, lifting the Nasdaq to a record close, on early downloads of its Muse AI agent. Meta slipped 0.5% premarket; Alphabet (GOOGL-US) rose 0.6%, Amazon (AMZN-US) 0.4%, Microsoft (MSFT-US) 0.8%. Nvidia (NVDA-US) fell 0.1%, while TSMC (TSM-US) and SK Hynix US-listed shares each dropped about 1%. CME FedWatch shows traders price a 50.9% chance of at least a 25-basis-point Fed rate hike in October, following September's increase. Bitcoin retreated 1.1% from a seven-month high, pressuring crypto-linked stocks including Strategy (MSTR-US) and Coinbase (COIN-US).