US Stocks-S&P 500 muted as industrials counter tech drag; US-Iran peace prospects rise

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.66-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 1.45-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq. The S&P 500 posted 11 new 52-week highs and one new low while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 48 new highs and 36 new lows. Drug distributor Cardinal Health CAH.N gained 5% after it forecast fiscal 2027 profit well above Street expectations. Riot Platforms RIOT.O jumped 9.5%, following a media report that the cloud-computing firm clinched a $9 billion deal with Anthropic. Rocket Lab RKLB.O slid 3.5% after appearing to push back the timeline for the first flight of its Neutron rocket. U.S.-listed shares of On ONON.N dropped over 21% after the sportswear brand missed sales estimates. Hims & Hers Health HIMS.N shed 5.5% after the telehealth company posted a wider-than-expected second-quarter loss. LNG company Venture Global VG.N slipped about 5% after its second-quarter revenue slightly missed estimates. At 9:52 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 221.79 points, or 0.41%, to 54,197.77, while the S&P 500 .SPX lost 2.27 points, or 0.03%, to 7,750.84 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC slipped 92.18 points, or 0.35%, to 26,513.18. In the market, the S&P 500 industrials .SPLRCI and utilities .SPLRCU were the biggest gainers, helping offset declines in heavyweight tech and communication services stocks. The S&P 500 information technology sector .SPLRCT swung between gains and losses as Nvidia NVDA.O was up 1.2%, while Microsoft MSFT.O and Apple AAPL.O lost 0.8% and 1%, respectively. Consumer and producer price inflation readings, due over the next two days, will be crucial in shaping market expectations on the U.S. Federal Reserve's policy path, given its focus on the inflation mandate and Chair Kevin Warsh's stance on cutting back rates guidance. Whether the central bank would increase interest rates in September or choose to pause has split traders almost evenly, according to the CME FedWatch Tool. The S&P 500 .SPX and the Dow .DJI hovered near all-time highs hit last week, while the Nasdaq .IXIC is over 2% away from its life-high but well above its lows in July, when the tech-heavy index slid almost 10% from its peak. Strong quarterly earnings in several sectors have boosted U.S. stocks to new highs and signs of AI-related spending paying off has eased some jitters. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq slipped in choppy trading on Tuesday, weighed down by heavyweight tech stocks, as investors assessed a report suggesting the United States and Iran were close to "some sort of an arrangement". Pakistani defence minister Khawaja Asif told Bloomberg News that signals from recent days indicated a peace agreement was close, right after Qatar's foreign ministry said Iran-Oman talks on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz were in an advanced stage. Brent crude futures LCOc1 turned lower after reaching their highest level in over a week. Rising energy costs have spurred inflation concerns and complicated the paths of central banks globally. "When you get some indication of something positive happening — that this war is going to come to an end or some kind of an agreement — you start to see oil back off. Any positive news is better than negative news," said Robert Pavlik, senior portfolio manager at Dakota Wealth.

US Stocks-S&P 500 muted as industrials counter tech drag; US-Iran peace prospects rise

Market breadth

Notable movers

Indexes and sectors

Markets open mixed as investors watch Iran talks and oil

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