Consumer stocks were lower late Tuesday afternoon, with the State Street Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLP) decreasing 0.1% and the State Street Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLY) shedding 0.6%.
In corporate news, Uber (UBER) has placed usage caps on some AI-powered coding tools used by its staff to control costs after the company exceeded its AI budget earlier this year, Bloomberg reported. Uber shares were down 3%.
West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil closed higher on Tuesday, rising off session lows following reports Iran is considering a new U.S. peace deal to end the war, a day after prices surged after the two sides appeared to be on the brink of resuming hostilities.WTI crude oil for July delivery closed up US$1.60 to settle at US$93.76 per barrel, after earlier touching US$90.12. August Brent oil was last seen up US$1.01 to US$95.99.Prices surged 5.5% on Monday after the United States and Iran traded strikes while Iran said it was refusing to continue talks on a peace deal as long as Israel continued its attacks on Iran-backed Hezbollah militants in Lebanon. However Reuters on Tuesday reported Iran is considering a fresh U.S. proposal to end the war and reopen the critical Strait of Hormuz, citing Iranian media, while U.S. President Trump said on Monday talks were continuing."Crude oil continues to trade from one headline to the next, making it increasingly difficult for traders to maintain conviction beyond a few hours. On Monday, prices posted their biggest one-day gain in a month after rebounding from a six-week low when Iranian officials reportedly halted negotiations with the US in protest over Israel's expanded military operations in Lebanon. President Trump later sought to calm markets by insisting talks remained ongoing and that he had spoken with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, although the two sides offered differing accounts of the conversation. Beneath the headline-driven volatility, global energy markets continue to tighten," Saxo Bank noted.Toril Bosoni, the head of the International Energy Agency's oil industry and markets division, on Tuesday said global oil inventories could fall to critical levels as summer demand rises while stocks fall with the the Middle East war keeping 14-million barrels per day of Persian Gulf supply off the market with the Strait of Hormuz blocked, Bloomberg reported.The IEA official said the agency expects reopening the key Strait will likely take at least six months to fully restore Persian Gulf exports once a peace deal is reached, forcing higher prices to prompt demand destruction as importing countries hunt for supply.
Financial stocks were advancing in Tuesday afternoon trading, with the NYSE Financial Index rising 0.5% and the State Street Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLF) increasing 0.2%.The Philadelphia Housing Index was adding 0.7%, and the State Street Real Estate Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLRE) was up 0.4%.Bitcoin (BTC-USD) was dropping 5.9% to $67,321, and the yield for 10-year US Treasuries was decreasing 1.6 basis points to 4.459%.In economic news, US job openings rose to 7.618 million in April, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, above the 6.866 million expected in a Bloomberg-compiled poll and up from the 6.887 million reported in March. The April report represents 4.6% of total employment, up from 4.2% in March and 4.3% a year earlier.Redbook US same-store sales rose by 9% from a year earlier in the week ended May 30, the same pace as in the previous week. "Customers remain highly value-driven and price sensitive," Redbook said.In corporate news, SpaceX is in talks with the Wall Street bankers handling its IPO to pay less than 0.75% for the $75 billion it expects to raise from the IPO, Bloomberg reported. Even at that low spread, the banks, including Goldman Sachs (GS) and Morgan Stanley (MS), are expected to earn about $500 million from the offering, the report said. Goldman shares were up 1.8%, and Morgan Stanley climbed 2.4%.UBS (UBS) is set to raise at least $500 million in Additional Tier 1 bonds denominated in US dollars, Bloomberg reported. Bloomberg described the offering as UBS's first foray into the market since the bank's host Switzerland paused plans to tighten rules on the riskier bank debt. UBS shares rose 0.3%.BlackRock (BLK) is set to acquire a 15% stake in Japanese taxi-hailing app Go as part of the company's planned initial public offering, Nikkei Asia reported. The asset manager is expected to buy 11.8 million shares for 28 billion Japanese yen ($175 million), the report said. BlackRock shares were down 0.2%.