Futures tick up after U.S. strikes in Iran
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Welcome to Seeking Alpha's Wall Street Breakfast, where we cover the top news for investors every morning. It's good to have you here, and it's great to be with you on this Monday, June 23rd. I'm Julie Morgan. A fresh conflict in the Middle East, but futures are still in the green. A $15 billion listing looms, and candy gets a red flag in the state where everything is bigger.

Stock index futures are positive pre-market as investors assess U.S. strikes against nuclear facilities in Iran over the weekend. As of the time of this recording, S&P futures are up 0.2%, Nasdaq futures are up 0.3%, and Dow futures are up 0.1%. The U.S. on Saturday night conducted military strikes against nuclear facilities in Iran.

Deutsche Bank's Jim Reed said in terms of what this all means for markets going forward, it's really all about whether the Iranian regime weaponizes oil, and in particular, whether they seek to close the Strait of Hormuz, where over 20 percent of the world's oil flows daily. The strikes fueled a spike in oil prices and stoked fears of broader conflict in the Middle East.

Iran's parliament voted on Sunday to close the strait in response to U.S. strikes, although the final decision lies with Iran's Supreme National Security Council and the Supreme Leader. PhonePay is preparing to file preliminary documents for its initial public offering in India to raise as much as $1.5 billion.

PhonePay is an Indian fintech firm backed by Walmart. Bloomberg reported on Monday that the deal would value PhonePay at about $15 billion. The report said that the company is planning to submit a prospectus for the listing by as early as August. PhonePay moved from Singapore to India in December 2022.

There's a new Texas law requiring warning labels on foods and beverages like M&M's, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, and Fanta. Governor Greg Abbott signed Bill 25 on Sunday night, which aims to eliminate ingredients like synthetic dyes from the U.S. food supply.

Food companies, which continue to assert the safety of their ingredients, now have until 2027 to remove over 40 substances, including artificial dyes and bleach flour, from products sold in Texas. Kraft Heinz and General Mills recently announced plans to eliminate synthetic dyes from their U.S. products by the end of 2027.

However, industry groups maintain that no formal agreement has been reached with the federal government. As currently formulated, products such as Coca-Cola's Fanta, PepsiCo's Cheetos Crunchy and Nacho Cheese Doritos, Mara Skittles and M&M's and Kelanova's Frosted Strawberry Pop Tarts would all require a warning label.

Now for a look at a few other articles that are trending on Seeking Alpha. DeepSeek reportedly aids China's military and evades export controls. Chinese chip designer Montage Technology reportedly hires banks for a $1 billion Hong Kong IPO. And retail investors reportedly cool on big tech after a spring rebound.

Our catalyst watch for the day looks pretty light. I have one item for you. The four-day Samsara Beyond event will begin. The event will highlight the company's innovations in safety, efficiency, and sustainability for connected operations. Samsara will also hold an Investor Day event.

We're keeping an eye on stock index futures and oil prices following the U.S. strike on nuclear sites in Iran. Dow, S&P and Nasdaq futures, as we said earlier, are in the green. Crude oil is up 0.1% at $74 a barrel. Bitcoin is up 0.5% at $101,000. Gold is flat at $3,367.

The FTSE 100 is flat and the DAX is down 0.4%.

Tesla is on our list of the biggest movers of the day pre-market. Tesla is up 2% after the EV maker quietly launched its long-awaited driverless taxi service in Austin, Texas over the weekend. The limited rollout features Model Y vehicles running on Tesla's full self-driving software, which uses a camera-based AI system unlike rivals that rely on LiDAR or radar.

And on today's economic calendar at 10 a.m., existing home sales. That's it for today's Wall Street Breakfast. Thanks for listening. To take full advantage of Seeking Alpha with coverage on significant stocks and ETFs, become a premium subscriber. Check out seekingalpha.com slash subscriptions. I'm your host, Julie Morgan. Go out and make it a great day.