S&P 500 ends volatile day slightly lower as Iran conflict keeps traders on edge: Live updates

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.

NYSE

The S&P 500 closed Tuesday’s session in the red.

The broad-based index fell 0.21% to 6,781.48, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 34.29 points, or 0.07%, to 47,706.51. The Nasdaq Composite, however, ticked higher by 0.01% to 22,697.10.

— Sean Conlon

Kohl’s shares fell after the retailer’s sales disappointed Wall Street.

The Wisconsin-based chain reported weaker-than-anticipated net sales and comparative sales for the fourth quarter. However, the company posted $1.07 in earnings per share, excluding items, blowing past the expectation 86 cents earned per share from analysts surveyed by FactSet.

With Tuesday’s slide, shares are down more than 28% in 2026.

— Alex Harring

The White House on Tuesday said that a since-deleted social media post by Energy Secretary Chris Wright claiming that the U.S. Navy had successfully escorted an oil tanker through the Strait of Hormuz was wrong.

“The U.S. Navy has not escorted a tanker or vessel at this time,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said during a news conference, where she was asked about Wright’s post on X.

Oil prices had sharply fallen after Wright’s false tweet. Read more.

— Dan Mangan

Oil prices fell sharply Tuesday, after Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said in a social media post that the U.S. Navy had successfully escorted a tanker through the Strait of Hormuz.

But the post appeared to have been subsequently removed. CNBC has reached out to the Department of Energy and White House for comment.

U.S. crude oilfell about 15% to $80.26 per barrel.Brent crude, the global benchmark, was down 14.4% at $84.69. The declines came after oil briefly surged as high as almost $120 on Monday.

“The U.S. Navy successfully escorted an oil tanker through the Strait of Hormuz to ensure oil remains flowing to global markets,” Wright said in the post, which is no longer available to view. Read more.

WTI crude vs. Brent crude, 1-day

Check out some of the companies making the biggest moves midday:

• Hims & Hers Health— Shares of the telehealth company jumped 3%. Bank of America upgraded the stock to neutral from underperform after Novo Nordisk droppedits patent infringement caseagainst Hims, and the companies agreed that Hims would sell Novo’s Ozempic and Wegovy drugs on its platform. Novo’s move to drop the case is “a clear positive in our view as it removes litigation and related credit risk — the primary driver of the new and higher multiple in our model,” wrote analyst Allen Lutz in a Tuesday note.
• BioNTech— U.S.-traded shares of the German biotech company cratered more than 20%. BioNTechannouncedthat its co-founders, Drs. Ugur Sahin and Özlem Türeci, would leave to establish and lead an independent company. Separately, BioNTech reported a fourth-quarter net loss of 305 million euros ($355.75 million).
• SolarEdge Technologies— The solar stock surged nearly 10% after Bank of America upgraded it to neutral from underperform. The Wall Street firm said SolarEdge’s margin trajectory, revenue cadence and liquidity have all stabilized enough to materially reduce downside risk.

Read here for the full list.

— Scott Schnipper

Driversare seeing the highestgas pricesin more than a year and a half as theU.S.-Iran wardisrupts the global oil trade.

The average price per gallon of unleaded gas in the U.S. climbed to about $3.54 per gallon on Tuesday, according toAAA. That’s the highest level seen since mid 2024 and marks a 21% increase from a month ago. Read more.

— Alex Harring

Software is a buying opportunity now that AI disruption concerns have peaked, according to Deutsche Bank Research.

The firm upgraded software to overweight, while raising its rating on tech overall to neutral from overweight, after software stocks outperformed last week even amid the broader market turmoil that suggests the group may have finally bottomed.

“The narrative has focused on the negative effects on Software while ignoring the positive effects of lower programming costs and potential product improvements due to AI,” read a March note from the firm. “We think AI disruption worries have peaked.”

— Sarah Min

The International Energy Agency has called a meeting of its member countries Tuesday to discuss a possible release of oil stockpiles to offset supply disruptions caused by the Iran war.

The more than 30 members will “assess the current security of supply and market conditions to inform a subsequent decision on whether to make emergency stocks […] available to the market,” IEA chief Fatih Birol said in a statement.

— Spencer Kimball, Michelle Fox

Airliners are pulling back due to conflict in the Middle East, but that doesn’t mean investors should leave stocks like Delta Air Lines out of their portfolios, according to Bernstein.

In a note to clients dated March 10, Bernstein analysts noted that airlines are poised to power through headwinds posed by the Iran War, including rising fuel prices and difficult transit conditions.

“It is impossible to know how long the current oil crisis will last or know with certainty how the shock will ultimately impact the broader economy,” Bernstein analyst David Verno said Tuesday in a note to clients. “We do think, however, that under a reasonable set of conservatively reasonable assumptions the expected impact to longer term earnings power will be much less severe than the recent move in the stocks.”

The analyst added that airlines have historically gotten through changes to fuel prices, which account for the second largest expense category for airlines.

Delta Air Lines has declined 7% over the past week. Shares of United Airlines and American Airlines have fallen 9% and 10%, respectively, during the same period.

— Liz Napolitano

As economists assess recession risks amid the jump in oil prices, Wells Fargo has calculated the price it believes could be the tipping point.

The firm’s model finds continued oil prices at $130 per barrel, which is a 100% increase from the baseline before the U.S.-Iran conflict, would result in back-to-back contractions in quarterly personal consumption expenditures in the middle part of this year.

“As a net energy exporter, the U.S. economy can better weather higher oil prices than many other countries, but sustained prices north of $130/barrel would materially raise the risk of recession,” chief economist Tom Porcelli wrote in a note Monday.

— Michelle Fox

U.S. equities were little changed to start Tuesday’s trading session.,

The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 62 points, or 0.1%. The S&P 500 hovered around the flatline, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.2%.

— Sean Conlon

Check out the companies making headlines before the bell:

• Kohl’s— Shares tumbled 9% after the retailer posted disappointing fourth-quarter revenue of $4.97 billion, below the LSEG consensus of $5.03 billion. On the other hand, fourth quarter earnings of $1.07 per share exceeded the expected 85 cents per share.
• Casey’s General Stores— The convenience store chain shed 2.6% following its third-quarter revenue miss. Casey’s General Storesreportedrevenue of $3.92 billion, short of the $4.04 billion consensus estimate, per FactSet. Earnings, however, topped expectations.
• Taiwan Semiconductor— The Taiwanese chipmaker’s shares inched up about 1% in premarket after the companyreporteda 30% increase in sales over the first two months of the year.

Read here for the full list.

— Sarah Min

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday said, “Today will be our most intense day of strikes inside Iran.”

“Iran stands alone, and they are badly losing,” Hegseth said at a press conference at the Pentagon.

Hegseth’s aggressive and confident comments echoed those made a day earlier by President Donald Trumpto reporters at his Miami-area golf club. Read more.

— Dan Mangan

Iran has defended its strikes against its Gulf neighbors, telling CNBC that U.S. military assets located in surrounding territories were “legitimate” targets in its fight back against America and Israel.

But Gulf states told CNBC that the attacks have created a “huge trust gap” that will last for years to come.

Iran’s decision to attack its neighbors as part of its retaliation against U.S.-Israeli strikes has confused analysts and Tehran itself has sent mixed messages over its strategy, apologising for strikes against neighbors includingSaudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Bahrain,before carrying out yet more strikes.

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson in Tehran told CNBC on Monday that the Islamic Republic felt “no hostility” toward Gulf countries, but that U.S. military assets in the region were legitimate targets. Read more.

— Holly Ellyatt, Emma Graham

Bill Ackman’s hedge fund, Pershing Square, filed for an initial public offering at the New York Stock Exchange, a regulatory filing showed Tuesday.

Shares will trade under the ticker “PS.” Read more.

— Fred Imbert

Crude oil prices

Oil prices plunged as much as 10% Tuesday before paring losses, as investors assessed comments from U.S. President Donald Trump on the conflict in the Middle East and on oil flows via the critical Strait of Hormuz.

Brent crudewas down around 8% at $91 per barrel as of 5:30 a.m. ET Tuesday.U.S. crude oilalso fell 8% to about $87.25 per barrel.The declines come after oil surged past $100 on Monday.

On Tuesday, the CEO of Saudi oil giant Aramco warned that the war threatens “catastrophic consequences” for the global oil market.

Amin Nasser told an earnings call that the war had caused “a severe chain reaction” and “a drastic domino effect” beyond shipping, on “aviation, agriculture, automotive, and other industries.” Read more.

— Lee Ying Shan

European stocks opened notably higher on Tuesday, as traders watch developments in the Middle East and reduced but still elevated oil prices.

By 9:19 a.m. in London (5:19 a.m. ET), the pan-EuropeanStoxx 600was 2.2% higher, with most sectors — barring oil and gas stocks — in positive territory. The Stoxx Europe Oil and Gas index shed around 0.8% as global oil pricescontinued to slide.

— Chloe Taylor

South Korea’s Kospi opened more than 5% higher Tuesday, leading a rebound in the region, after oil prices fell and Wall Street bounced back as U.S. President Donald Trump signaled the conflict with Iran could be nearing its end.

Oil prices fell more than 10% after Trump said he was considering seizing control of the Strait of Hormuz, a critical chokepoint for crude flows. Trumpalso told a CBS News reporter, who shared the comments in apost on X, that “the war is very complete, pretty much.”

International Brent crude was down 10% at $89.03 per barrel at 9.10 p.m. ET Monday. U.S. crude oil fell more than 9% to $86.05 per barrel. The declines came after oil surged past $100 on Monday.

Other Asia stock indexes also gained. The small-cap Kosdaq added over 4%.

Australia’sS&P/ASX 200rose 1.35% in early trade.

Japan’sNikkei 225jumped 1.66%, while the Topix gained 1.3%.

Hong Kong’sHang Seng indexrose 1.56%, while the CSI 300 gained 0.9%.

—Lee Ying Shan

Take a look at the stocks moving in extended trading Monday:

• Vail Resorts — The ski resort’s stock price slid 1.2% on the back of weak earnings results. Vail reported $5.87 per share in earnings on $1.08 billion in revenue, while analysts polled by LSEG expected $6.10 per share on $1.11 billion in revenue. The company also lowered its guidance “due to the persistent, historically challenging weather conditions in the Rockies.”
• Hewlett Packard Enterprise — The technology company saw shares rise 1% in the after-hours session. HPE earned 65 cents per share, on an adjusted basis, for its first quarter. That exceeded analysts’ estimate of 59 cents per share, according to LSEG. The company’s $9.30 billion in revenue fell slightly short of the $9.33 billion expected, meanwhile.
• Vertex Pharmaceuticals — Vertex Pharmaceuticals shares popped more than 5% after the biotech company said its drug met its goals in a late-stage trial for IgA nephropathy, a chronic condition that can lead to kidney failure.

— Pia Singh

WTI April crude oil futures on Monday evening opened lower by more than 9% at $85.60, after settling the regular session at $94.77 per barrel. The move lower comes after U.S. President Donald Trump said in an interview with a CBS News reporter that the Iran war is “very complete, pretty much.”

— Pia Singh