-- US equity indexes gave up intraday gains as crude oil futures gathered momentum after midday Tuesday, amid a fast-approaching deadline for Washington and Tehran to find a deal in the second round of talks in Pakistan.
The Nasdaq Composite fell 0.3% to 24,339.8, with the S&P 500 down 0.3% to 7,087.2 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average lower by 0.2% to 49,370.3. All three gauges traded higher earlier in the session alongside corporate results.
All sectors except consumer discretionary and energy fell, with real estate and industrials leading the decliners.
President Donald Trump told CNBC on Tuesday that he expects the US and Iran to make a "great deal," referring to the proposed second round of talks in Islamabad that Iran has yet to confirm it will attend. The president added, however, that the US military is "ready" to bomb Iran if a deal is not signed by the ceasefire deadline late Wednesday and that he does not want to extend it.
Iran has told regional mediators it would send a negotiating team to Islamabad on Tuesday, people familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journal. But Tehran hasn't publicly confirmed it will send representatives, and Iran's top negotiator said, "We do not accept negotiations under the shadow of threats."
West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures climbed 4.3% to $93.50, and Brent crude futures advanced 2.8% to $98.17.
Most US Treasury yields rose, with the 10-year up 4.8 basis points to 4.3% and the two-year climbing 6.5 basis points to 3.78%.
Gold futures declined 1.1% to $4,775.6 and silver futures dropped 2.4% to $78.15.
In economic news, US retail sales rose 1.7% in March, above the 1.4% increase expected in a Bloomberg-compiled survey and following the previous month's revised 0.7% gain. Removing both motor vehicles and a 15.5% surge in gasoline station sales, retail sales were up 0.6% in March, the same as in February.
Pending home sales rose by 1.5% in March, above the 0.5% increase expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg and following a 2.5% increase in February, according to the National Association of Realtors. The monthly sales index was down 1.1% from March 2025.
In company news, UnitedHealth Group (UNH) raised its full-year earnings outlook on Tuesday, as the health insurance giant recorded an unexpected annual increase in its Q1 results. Shares jumped 7.6%, the top gainer on the S&P 500 and the Dow.
D.R. Horton's (DHI) fiscal Q2 results came in better than expected, although the homebuilder tempered its full-year revenue outlook. Shares advanced 7.1%, among the S&P 500's outperformers.
Moody's (MCO) said Tuesday that it is deepening its partnership with Microsoft (MSFT) by embedding its credit intelligence into Microsoft 365 Copilot and other AI-driven enterprise tools, expanding its presence across financial workflows. Shares of Microsoft rose 1.4%, among the Dow's leaders.
Apple (AAPL) shares fell 1.5%, among the Dow's laggards, a day after the company said that Tim Cook will become executive chairman after a nearly 15-year stint as chief executive officer, effective Sept 1.