US stock-index futures advance amid Iran deal

U.S. stock-index futures rose, indicating the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index will extend its record from last week, as Iran agreed to limit its nuclear program.

Futures on the S&P 500 expiring in December advanced 0.3% to 1,807.60 at 7:17 a.m. in New York. The benchmark index rose for the past seven weeks, its longest winning streak since February, as reports showed retail sales data and initial jobless claims beat estimates. Dow Jones Industrial Average contracts added 58 points, or 0.4%, to 16,085.00 today. Nasdaq technology index gained 0.3% to 3,431.00.

Crude oil prices dropped nearly $1.40 to under $94 a barrel, after a six-month nuclear agreement was reached over the weekend between Iran and major world powers.

“We’re almost through reporting season for companies in the U.S. and Europe, and one thing that is common for everybody is earnings are falling or stable, so very few companies are able to increase earnings,” said to Wall Street Journal, Henrik Drusebjerg, strategist at Nordea Bank. “So if we want to see increased earnings, we want to see increased growth, and lower oil prices would definitely help that.”

In Europe, shares of airline and travel companies were among the gainers, helping to push that market higher. Asia stocks rose.

Corporate news were dominated by metal-processing companies as Alcoa gained 2.4% to $9.46. Goldman Sachs upgraded the shares to “buy” from “neutral”. The brokerage said that the stock may climb to $11.

“We believe that the market is not fully appreciating Alcoa’s solid position in growing value-added and high-margin aluminum products for the aerospace and automotive industries,” analysts Sal Tharani and Chelsea Bolton wrote.

Barrick Gold lost 1.1% to $16.20 in Germany. Randgold Resources retreated 1.3% to $69.10 in European trading and lost 2.5% in London.

Nuance Communications which makes software that converts speech into text, is expected to report fiscal fourth-quarter earnings of 28 cents a share on revenue of $488 million, according to FactSet. Shares of Nuance have dropped around 28% this year.

The National Association of Realtors publishes its figures for pending sales of existing houses at 10 a.m. in Washington.