**Stock Futures Struggle After Decline Amid Rising Oil Prices and Bond Yields**

Stock futures showed minimal movement on Monday night, reflecting the market's struggle following a downturn spurred by increasing oil prices and rising bond yields. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures dipped by 33 points, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures remained near flat. This subdued activity follows a troubling day on Wall Street, where the Dow plummeted nearly 400 points, and the S&P 500 decreased by nearly 1%. Technology stocks were particularly hard hit, leading the Nasdaq Composite to fall by about 1.2%.

Part of the pressure on the market stemmed from the 10-year Treasury yield rising above 4%, reaching levels not seen since early August. Bond yields and prices usually move in opposite directions. Additionally, West Texas Intermediate oil futures climbing above $77 per barrel weighed heavily on the market. Interestingly, however, energy stocks bucked the trend, being the only sector among the S&P 500 to close the day in positive territory.

Investors' anxiety over the past few days signals a difficult start to the new trading month and quarter. Heightened concerns about potential conflict escalation in the Middle East, following a missile attack by Iran on Israel last week, have contributed to this unease. Despite these worries, the market had shown resilience last Friday, buoyed by a strong jobs report that propelled the major indexes to achieve their fourth consecutive positive weeks. Remarkably, the Dow even set a new all-time closing high on Friday.

Larry Tentarelli, Chief Technical Strategist of the Blue Chip Daily Trend Report, noted, "Initially, the market rallied on that really good economic news," referring to the positive labor market data. However, he added, "I think what you've got now is the market adjusting to higher bond yields."

Looking ahead, investors will closely follow Tuesday's economic data on small businesses and the trade deficit, as well as scheduled speeches from key central bank leaders, including Boston Federal Reserve President Susan Collins and Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic. October, known for its volatility, offers strategic opportunities as noted by Piper Sandler. The investment firm advised utilizing the market's fluctuations, particularly amid the Q3 earnings season, to fortify positions in leading SMID-cap Industrial, Financial, and Technology stocks. Piper Sandler reaffirmed its S&P 500 year-end target of 5,800, suggesting a potential rise of under 1%.

Penn Entertainment shares experienced a more than 1% rise following the company's announcement that its expected adjusted EBITDA for the interactive segment in Q3 would show a smaller loss than initially forecasted. This optimistic revision, from a loss range of $115 million to $135 million down to $90 million to $100 million, offered some relief, although Penn Entertainment shares have still plummeted over 28% this year.

As of shortly after 6 p.m. ET, stock futures displayed slight upward movement, with Dow and S&P 500 futures each advancing around 0.1%, and Nasdaq 100 futures gaining 0.2%.