S&P 500, Nasdaq End Lower As Investors Take Breather From AI And Chips — AAPL, ASTS, APLD, RIVN, ZVRA In Focus

• The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 fell 0.3% and 1.1%, respectively, while the Dow Jones rose 0.2%.
• President Donald Trump said early on Tuesday that a deal to end the war in Iran could be reached in “two or three days.”
• Gold and silver prices settled to their lowest levels of the year on Tuesday.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq indices fell on Tuesday for the second straight session due to declines in mega-cap technology stocks, while investors assessed President Donald Trump’s positive messaging on the US-Iran war. 

The S&P 500 fell 0.3%, the Nasdaq lost 1.1%, and the Dow Jones gained 0.2%. The Russell 2000, which tracks stocks with small market capitalizations, rose 0.1%. 

Among ETFs tracking benchmark indexes, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) fell 0.4%, and Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) ended Tuesday around 1.1% lower, while the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (DIA) ended flat. 

The VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) dropped 1.2%. 

Meanwhile, retail sentiment on Stocktwits for SPY and QQQ was ‘neutral’ and ‘bullish,’ respectively, and was ‘bearish’ for the DIA. 

US Market Drivers

President Donald Trump, while speaking to reporters after the NBA finals, said that the U.S. and Iran are in the final stages of a “very, very good deal that will not in any way allow nuclear weapons.” 

A draft agreement was sent to the U.S. for review late on Monday, and it is “preliminarily acceptable” to the White House, CNBC reported, citing Sky News Arabia.

Oil prices eased on Tuesday following the positive remarks around the war in the Middle-East. West Texas Intermediate crude futures lost 3.4% to settle at $88.20 a barrel, as per CNBC, after U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said that Strait of Hormuz ship traffic is “rising very meaningfully.” 

Alternatively, precious metal prices, including gold and silver, are under pressure amid rising bets that the U.S. Federal Reserve is primed to raise interest rates, which generally puts downward pressure on metals, following strong jobs data last Friday.

Chipmakers and other tech stocks tied to the AI play also slipped for the second session on Tuesday as investors grew more wary of the sector’s sky-high valuations and risks around an interest rate hike.

UBS Global Wealth Management’s Alan Rechtschaffen said during an interview with CNBC on Tuesday that worries about the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy direction are weighing on tech stocks.

“People are concerned the market is pricing in Fed raises for the rest of the year. UBS thinks the Fed is actually going to cut rates,” he added.

Trending Stocks To Watch 

Apple (AAPL): Shares eased after multiple analysts took a cautious stance on the iPhone maker after it unveiled a range of new AI features at the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC). .  

AST Spacemobile (ASTS): The company confirmed its plans to launch its BlueBird 8, 9, and 10 satellites next week aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, two months after its BlueBird 7 satellite suffered a setback.  

Applied Digital  (APLD):  The firm’s latest hyperscaler deal has analysts at Needham “pleasantly surprised” by the pace of the company’s AI infrastructure buildout. 

Rivian (RIVN): The EV maker began customer deliveries of the R2 Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV).

DraftKings (DKNG): The company provided a positive preliminary update on key operating metrics for its predictions platform in an SEC filing. 

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