-- US equity indexes closed lower on Tuesday as semiconductor shares fell and Middle East tensions lifted crude oil prices.
* Arm Holdings (ARM), Applied Materials (AMAT), Lam Research (LRCX), Arista Networks (ANET), and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) were among the tech decliners.
* Iran's latest proposal to end the war in the Middle East failed to win President Donald Trump's support, Reuters reported, citing a US official.
* The Conference Board's measure of consumer confidence rose to 92.8 in April from an upwardly revised 92.2 in March, compared with 89 expected in a Bloomberg survey.
* The Richmond Fed's monthly manufacturing index rose to 3 in April from zero in March, above expectations for 1 in a Bloomberg poll.
* May West Texas Intermediate crude oil rose $3.51 to settle at $99.88 per barrel, while June Brent crude, the global benchmark, was last seen up $2.90 at $111.13.
* Alexandria Real Estate Equities (ARE) shares fell 11%, the biggest drop on the S&P 500, after the company reported lower Q1 results.
* Centene (CNC) shares rose 13%, the top gainer on the S&P, after the company reported higher Q1 results and raised its 2026 outlook.