WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Stocks have moved mostly lower during trading on Tuesday, adding to the losses posted during last Friday's session. The major averages have all moved to the downside, with the Dow showing a particularly steep drop.
Currently, the major averages are off their lows of the session but still in negative territory. The Dow is down 568.96 points or 1.1 percent at 52,845.29, the Nasdaq is down 67.42 points or 0.3 percent at 26,439.57 and the S&P 500 is down 26.18 points or 0.3 percent at 7,692.42.
The weakness on Wall Street comes amid a sharp increase by the price of crude oil due to the continued escalation of the conflict in the Middle East.
U.S. crude oil futures are jumping by nearly 2 percent after the U.S. struck three Iranian crude oil carriers over the weekend after Iran launched ballistic missiles toward two U.S. Navy warships patrolling regional waters.
Iran has threatened to retaliate against any new U.S. attacks on its assets and Saudi-led coalition forces vowed a resolute response to a wave of attacks from Houthi rebels.
Amid escalating tensions with the U.S., Teheran said a deal with Oman to manage shipping through the Strait of Hormuz was imminent.
A steep drop by shares of Amgen (AMGN) is weighing on the Dow, with the biopharmaceutical company plunging by nearly 9 percent.
The nosedive by Amgen comes after Novartis (NVS) reported disappointing results from a late-stage clinical trial of a rival cholesterol drug.
However, overall trading activity remains somewhat subdued ahead of the release of the key U.S. inflation data later in the week.
The reports on consumer and producer price inflation could have a significant impact on the outlook for interest rates ahead of the Federal Reserve's next monetary policy meeting later this month.
Sector News
Pharmaceutical stocks have shown a substantial move to the downside on the day, dragging the NYSE Arca Pharmaceutical Index down by 2.6 percent.
Considerable weakness is also visible among healthcare stocks, as reflected by the 2.1 percent slump by the Dow Jones U.S. Health Care Index.
Housing, biotechnology and software stocks are also seeing significant weakness, while semiconductor, networking and oil stocks have shown strong moves to the upside.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly lower during trading on Tuesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index slumped by 1.7 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell by 0.4 percent.
The major European markets have also moved to the downside on the day. While the German DAX Index is down by 0.3 percent, the French CAC 40 Index is down by 0.2 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is down by 0.1 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries have shown a lack of direction over the course of the session. Currently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by less than a basis point at 4.790 percent.
Copyright(c) 2026 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
© 2026 AFX News
