07:56 AM EDT, 04/20/2026 (MT Newswires) -- US equity futures were lower pre-bell on Monday as tensions escalated in the Middle East once again after the US seized an Iranian cargo ship that tried to run the US blockade of Iran's ports, and Iran refused to restart peace negotiations with the US in Pakistan.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were 0.6% lower, S&P 500 futures were down 0.6%, and Nasdaq futures were 0.5% lower.

The US had said it wanted to resume negotiations before the two-week ceasefire with Iran ends on Tuesday, but Iran's foreign ministry said it would not join new talks due the ongoing blockade and "excessive demands"of the US.

Over the weekend, Iran lifted and then reimposed its own blockade on vessels passing through the Strait of Hormuz.

Some of the companies expected to report quarterly earnings this week are GE Aerospace (GE) and UnitedHealth Group (UNH) pre-bell on Tuesday, Tesla (TSLA) and IBM (IBM) after-market on Wednesday, Intel (INTC) after-market on Thursday, and Procter &Gamble (PG) pre-bell on Friday.

Oil prices were higher, with front-month global benchmark North Sea Brent crude up 4.8% at $94.73 per barrel and US West Texas Intermediate crude 5.7% higher at $87.29 per barrel.

The economic calendar is vacant.