U.S. stock futures point to flat open on Wall Street

U.S. stock futures pointed to a flat opening for the major indices on Monday amid relative calm in U.S. politics with President Donald Trump on a trip to the Middle East.

The blue-chip Dow futures put on 3 points or 0.01%, at 07.00 ET (11.00 GMT), the S&P 500 futures dipped 0.5 points, or 0.02%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures edged up 2.63 points, or 0.05%.

Futures remained steady after Wall Street’s relief rally on Friday suggested investors had put last week’s political upheaval behind them for now.

With Trump in the Middle East on his first official overseas trip as president the steady stream of revelations surrounding the FBI’s investigation into alleged Russian interference in November’s presidential election has receded.

Market sentiment has been hit by fears that the U.S. political system could become engulfed by crisis, preventing lawmakers from pushing through tax or spending reforms.

In currency markets, the dollar hit a fresh six month trough against a basket of the other major currencies on Monday, as the euro spiked after German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the single currency was too weak.

The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was last at 96.94, which was its deepest trough since November 9.

In commodity markets, oil prices hit the highest levels in around four weeks on growing expectations that members of Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries will agree to extend or even deepen production cuts when they meet later this week.

Brent crude, the global benchmark, rose 47 cents, or 0.88%, to $54.08 a barrel. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, U.S. crude futures were trading up 45 cents, or 0.89%, at $51.11 a barrel.

Most Asian indexes closed in positive territory earlier, with Japan's Nikkei ending up around 0.4%, while China's Shanghai Composite shed about 0.5%.

European shares were broadly lower amid fresh concerns over political risks, with Germany’s DAX down 0.35% and France’s CAC 40 edging up 0.1%.