Wall Street indexes go in different directions

Among the S&P 500's 11 major sectors, six advanced with materials .SPLRCM adding 1.5% and leading gains. At the helm in materials was International Flavors & Fragrances IFF.N, which finished up 8.9%.

IFF trimmed its annual revenue and profit forecast but excluding its food ingredients business, most of which is being sold, UBS analyst Joshua Spector says that the new guidance implies organic growth of 2-4% for 2026 vs consensus expectations for 2.8%.

Also boosting materials were gold miners Newmont Corp NEM.N, which rallied 6.7%, and Freeport-McMoRan Inc FCX.N, which finished up 3.1%, as the commodity XAU= soared more than 4%, and was eyeing its biggest daily gain since February.

The weakest sector was communication services .SPRCL, which finished down 2.4%.

Elsewhere, U.S. crude oil settled down slightly on hopes for a reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. However, there was no immediate U.S. comment on a proposed deal between Iran and Oman that would give Tehran control over ships entering the Gulf through the strait, according to a Reuters report about the proposal, which cited a senior Iranian source and two regional officials. Meanwhile, sources told Reuters that Iran warned Gulf states that any new U.S. attack on its territory would trigger retaliation against critical energy infrastructure across the region.