Highlights
Stocks retreated on Tuesday amid rising oil prices and higher bond yields on scary news from the ongoing US-Iran war. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 1.2 percent while the S&P 500 fell 0.6 percent. The Nasdaq outperformed on the AI trade and was off only 0.3 percent. The dollar weakened.
Risk appetite was hit by an increase in strikes between the US and Iran over the weekend and a widening in the conflict with Houthis hitting Saudo oil facilities. Brent crude appeared headed for a test of psychological resistance at $100 a barrel. Somewhat offsetting the bearish oil and inflation news were positive updates in the AI space from OpenAI’s latest release and cooperative deals involving Amazon, Intel, and Qualcomm.
Most sectors were lower. Healthcare was hit by losses in Novartis on bad clinical trial news and Stryker on bearish management comments during an investor presentation. On the positive side, energy outperformed on rising oil prices.