U.S. stocks and oil prices swung throughout Tuesday trading as markets tried to gauge what would happen after a U.S.-Iran ceasefire scheduled to expire Wednesday. The S&P 500 reversed an early gain to fall 0.6% after U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance called off a trip to Pakistan, where he was expected to lead U.S. negotiators in talks with Iran to extend the ceasefire, according to the Associated Press. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 293 points, or 0.6%, after erasing an earlier gain of about 400 points, and the Nasdaq composite also slipped 0.6%.

After the U.S. stock market finished trading for the day, President Donald Trump said he would extend the ceasefire to give Iran time to submit a proposal to end the war, AP reported. Oil prices also moved in response to the changing expectations for the truce, with Brent crude trading in a wide range before Trump’s announcement. The price for a barrel of Brent crude moved from less than $95 earlier in the day to roughly $100, then settled at $98.48, up 3.1%, AP said.

The broader picture for investors remained tied to earlier volatility during the war with Iran, when Wall Street saw sharp swings. AP reported that earlier in the conflict the price for a barrel of Brent crude briefly topped $119 and the S&P 500 fell nearly 10% below its prior all-time high, while the U.S. stock market remained near its most recent record, which was set Friday. The mixed session suggested caution about risks that could extend or restart fighting, even as equity markets stayed close to highs.

Much of the tension centered on the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway off Iran’s coast that oil tankers use to exit the Persian Gulf, AP said. AP reported that a long-term closure would keep crude oil “pent up” in the gulf and away from customers worldwide, tightening supply expectations for global buyers. In that context, analysts said the economic effect would depend on how long the conflict lasted; AP cited Brian Jacobsen, chief economic strategist at Annex Wealth Management, saying it had become “cliched to say” that duration matters, but that the point still held.

Corporate earnings updates provided some support within otherwise cautious trading, AP reported. UnitedHealth Group jumped 7% after also raising its forecast for profit over the full year of 2026, and Quest Diagnostics rose 4.4% after reporting quarterly results that came in above analyst expectations and lifting its full-year profit forecast, AP said. Amazon added 0.7% after Anthropic said it signed a new agreement and is committing more than $100 billion over the next 10 years to AWS technologies to train and run its Claude chatbot, AP reported.

Several other companies weighed on major indexes, AP said. Apple fell 2.5% in the day’s heaviest S&P 500 decline after Tim Cook said he would step down as chief executive on Sept. 1 and become Apple’s executive chairman, with control going to John Ternus, AP reported. Tractor Supply, meanwhile, dropped 11.7% after reporting quarterly profit and revenue that fell short of expectations, AP said.

In other markets, indexes fell in Europe after a stronger finish in Asia, AP reported, while South Korea’s Kospi rose 2.7% for one of the world’s biggest moves. In the bond market, Treasury yields rose after a report showed U.S. retailers made more money in March, the first full month of the war, than analysts expected, AP said. The AP report said the 10-year Treasury yield rose to 4.31% from 4.26% late Monday, and that the gains accelerated late in the day with oil prices.

The report also highlighted investor attention to Federal Reserve independence as U.S. lawmakers consider Kevin Warsh, Trump’s nominee to chair the central bank. AP reported that Warsh said he never promised Trump he would cut interest rates, even though Trump has angrily called for the Fed to do so, describing a “tightrope” for Warsh as senators weigh his nomination because investors want him to maintain the Fed’s independence from political meddling, AP reported.

Verified figures (FRED)

The trading session also coincided with rate and market expectations that some analysts track through Treasury and yield-curve measures. The FRED series value for the Nasdaq Composite at the article’s publish-date vintage was 24,259.96 (NASDAQCOM), and the 10-year minus 2-year Treasury spread value was 0.52 (T10Y2Y).