Dow Jones Industrial Average futures slipped on Monday as the latest developments in the Middle East sent oil prices higher, sparking further worries about instability in the region. Futures tied to the blue-chip index were off 208 points, or 0.4%. S&P 500 futures fell 0.1%, while Nasdaq 100 futures traded around the flatline. Futures came well off their lows after conflicting reports of an Iranian attack on a U.S. warship and as Iranian media was reporting that a ship was turned back from the Strait of Hormuz. Iran’s Navy said it blocked “American-Zionist” warships from entering the zone, according to state TV reports cited by Reuters. A separate dispatch from the Fars news agency said two misses hit a U.S. warship near Jask Island after it ignored warnings, though neither report was independently confirmed. U.S. Central Command later wrote in a post on X that “no U.S. Navy ships have been struck.” Oil prices jumped across the board Monday. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 3% to trade above $105 per barrel, while international benchmark Brent crude was up 3% to above $111. Energy prices also came off earlier highs following reports that disputed the Iranian accounts. In a Sunday Truth Social post, President Donald Trump announced “Project Freedom,” which he said entails the U.S. helping to “free” cargo ships of nations that aren’t involved in the Middle East conflict and that have been stranded by the Strait of Hormuz closure. The initiative is slated to start Monday, Trump wrote. “I have told my representatives to inform them that we will use best efforts to get their ships and crews safely out of the Strait,” he said in his post. “In all cases, they said they will not be returning until the area becomes safe for navigation and everything else.” The president’s Truth Social post had no details on how such an effort would unfold. Trump’s announcement came after Iran said on Sunday that it had received a U.S. response to its latest offer for peace talks. Previously, on Friday, Iran reportedly sent an updated peace proposal through Pakistani mediators, boosting investors’ optimism that a settlement with the U.S. could occur. However, Trump later Friday said that he was not satisfied with Tehran’s offer and that the country was only making a deal “because they have no military left.” Investors’ hopefulness over the situation in the Middle East and a strong first-quarter earnings season have driven stocks higher to new records in recent days, with Bank of America strategist Nigel Tupper seeing reason to remain bullish going forward. “The strong global earnings cycle and a few persistent investment themes remain supportive of global equity market returns,” Tupper wrote in a Friday note to clients. Chris Senyek, chief investment strategist at Wolfe Research, believes that strong earnings from the “Magnificent Seven” tech titans will result in artificial intelligence remaining the most dominant market theme. “With mega-cap tech earnings coming in solid, adding more fuel to the AI theme, we believe that investors are likely to continue to chase the perceived tech winners in semis and memory, among others,” he wrote. On Friday, both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite rose to new all-time intraday and closing highs. The broad market index rose 0.29%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq climbed 0.89%. The Dow bucked the trend, however, slipping 152.87 points, or 0.31%. The week’s most dominant economic news release will be the April jobs report, due out on Friday morning at 8:30 a.m. ET. Dow Jones consensus estimates that the U.S. economy is expected to have added just 53,000 jobs in April, far below the prior blowout reading of 178,000, while the unemployment rate is expected to remain at 4.3%. Treasury yields were little changed Friday after data on U.S. factory activity showed an expansion in April that was slightly below expectations. The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note — the key benchmark for mortgage lending and auto loans — fell 1 basis point to 4.38%. The 2-year Treasury note yield, which more closely tracks short-term Federal Reserve interest rate policy, rose less than 1 basis point to 3.888%. South Korean stocks rose Monday to hit a fresh record, following their strongest monthly gain in 28 years, as investors weighed the latest development around the Middle East conflict. Other Asia-Pacific indexes were mostly higher. The Kospi index ended Monday’s session 5.12% higher at 6,936.99. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was the main laggard in Monday’s trade, declining 0.37% to 8,697.10. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index gained 1.26% in its last hour of afternoon trade, while India’s Nifty 50 gained 0.44%. Markets in Japan and China were closed for a public holiday. Gold prices nudged lower in thin trade on Monday, weighed down by inflation worries that clouded the U.S. monetary policy outlook, while markets awaited developments in U.S.-Iran peace negotiations. Spot gold was down 0.2% at $4,606.38 per ounce, as of 0307 GMT. U.S. gold futures for June delivery fell 0.6% to $4,617.40.