Wall Street closes lower with oil and yields jumping

The energy-sensitive Dow Jones Transport Average index .DJT sank 2.5%. Its biggest loser, Old Dominion Freight Line ODFL.O, fell 6.5% after its quarterly report.

Here is your closing snapshot:

(Sinéad Carew, Chuck Mikolajczak)

Among the S&P 500's 11 major industry sectors, four ended the session with gains, led by energy's .SPNY 1.5% advance and a 0.9% gain in utilities .SPLRCU, often seen as a defensive bet. After four days of declines the CBOE volatility index .VIX rose 1.42 points to 16.34.

The biggest laggard was consumer discretionary .SPLRCD which fell 1.9% and had only seven gainers. That sector's biggest decliners included Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings NCLH.N, down 4.4%, and travel website Expedia EXPE.O, which sank 4%.

Wall Street's three major indexes ended Tuesday's session in the red, marking a three-day losing streak, as bond yields and oil prices soared after the U.S. launched new air strikes on Iranian targets, dimming hopes for a Middle East resolution and fanning worries about energy supplies.

With investors already anxious about sticky inflation, it didn't help that U.S. crude oil and Brent futures settled up more than $4 each. Tehran remained defiant, warning that it would prevent oil being exported from the Gulf, despite a threat by U.S. President Donald Trump to hit Iran "hard" in response to Iranian strikes, and a warning from U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent that Washington was about to impose new sanctions.