U.S. stocks ended mixed on Tuesday, as investors remained hopeful that progress in negotiations would be made at the eleventh hour with Iran since President Donald Trump’s deadline for Tehran to open the Strait of Hormuz neared. The Dow finished in the red, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq ended in positive territory.
How Did The Benchmarks Perform?
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) declined 0.2% or 85.42 points, to close at 46,584.46 points.
The S&P 500 gained 0.1%, or 5.02 points, to end at 6,616.85 points. Information technology and utilities stocks were the biggest gainers, while consumer staples stocks were the worst performers.
The Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR (XLP) lost 1.7%. The Utilities Select Sector SPDR (XLU) gained 0.2%. The Information Technology Select Sector SPDR (XLK) added 0.8%. Five out of the 11 sectors of the benchmark index ended in positive territory.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq advanced 0.1%, or 21.51 points, to finish at 22,017.85 points.
The fear gauge, CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), was up 6.66% to 25.78. Decliners outnumbered advancers on the NYSE by a 1.05-to-1 ratio. On the Nasdaq, a 1.28-1 ratio favored declining issues. A total of 18.78 billion shares were traded on Tuesday, lower than the last 20-session average of 19.35 billion.
On the NYSE, there were 84 new 52-week highs and 78 new lows. On the Nasdaq, there were 2,054 new highs and 2,627 new lows. On the S&P 500, there were three new 52-week highs and nine new lows.
Stocks Rebound on Hopes of U.S.-Iran Ceasefire
Stocks suffered for most of the trading session on Tuesday before making a rebound in the final hour after Pakistan’s prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, brokered a proposal and convinced Trump to extend his deadline by two weeks and requested Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz for the smooth passage of ships as a “goodwill gesture.”
Sharif earlier wrote on X that all diplomatic proposals were on track to reach a peaceful settlement to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
Trump had earlier set an 8 P.M. ET Tuesday deadline for Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz or face attack on its energy infrastructure. Trump’s threat left investors unsettled for most of the session, as stocks took a beating and oil surged.
West Texas Intermediate crude futures ended almost unchanged at $112.95 per barrel, or $0.54 higher. International Brent crude futures settled $0.15 lower at $109.62 a barrel.
While most of the session’s focus remained on developments in the Middle East, Broadcom, Inc. (AVGO) scored big, with its shares jumping 6.2% after the company entered into long-term AI deals with Alphabet, Inc. (GOOGL) and Anthropic. Broadcom sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Economic Data
In economic data released on Tuesday, the Commerce Department reported that durable goods orders declined 1.4% in February after falling 0.5% in the month earlier. The decline was fueled by a 28.6% drop in orders for commercial aircraft.
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