News

Stock losses picked up on Tuesday morning following President Trump’s latest threats against Iran, which raised concerns that a potential off-ramp to the hostilities may be closing. Sentiment turned even more pessimistic after the New York Times reported that Iran has stopped negotiation efforts with the United States, with three senior Iranian officials informing Pakistan that Iran would no longer engage in ceasefire talks.

Apple shares slid 3.4% on Tuesday after a Nikkei Asia report said the company is facing engineering setbacks in the foldable iPhone’s testing phase, raising the risk of delays to production and shipments, according to people familiar with the matter. The report said the engineering challenges are proving more complex and time‑consuming than Apple initially expected, potentially pushing the first shipment back by several months. The development comes after Apple stock had gained nearly 5% over the previous four sessions. The foldable device is expected to feature an iPad‑like interface when fully opened, Bloomberg reported earlier.

Uncertainty around the escalating US-Iran conflict has prompted UBS to turn more cautious on US equities, cutting its year‑end target for the S&P 500, CNBC reported. In a Tuesday note, the bank lowered its 2026 target to 7,500 from 7,700, though this still implies a headline gain of over 13% from current levels and a return of about 9.5% in 2026. UBS CIO Ulrike Hoffmann‑Burchardi said markets are closely watching President Donald Trump’s deadline for Iran, advising investors to de‑risk amid elevated energy prices. UBS flagged higher vulnerability in regions sensitive to energy supply disruptions, including Europe and India, while cautioning against exiting risk assets entirely given medium‑term upside potential.

Gilead said on Tuesday it would acquire private Germany-based Tubulis GmbH for ‌up to $5 billion, as the U.S. drugmaker ‌looks to boost its pipeline with a lucrative class of ​experimental cancer drugs referred to as “guided missiles”. This marks the latest in Gilead’s acquisition spree. The company has been expanding beyond its key areas for growth ‌amid looming patent ⁠expiries and declining sales of its COVID-19 treatment, Veklury.

Broadcom deepened its collaboration with Google and Anthropic with a pair of deals, sending the stock up 3% in premarket trading. The chipmaker agreed to produce Google’s artificial intelligence chips known as tensor processing units, or TPUs, and will give Anthropic access to around 3.5 gigawatts of computing capacity starting in 2027, according to filings. Broadcom Inc (AVGO) shares traded over 3% higher, quoting at $324.20 apiece.

US stocks opened lower after President Trump declared that “a whole civilization will die tonight” unless “something revolutionarily wonderful” happens to intervene in his deadline, set for 8 pm tonight (Wednesday morning IST). The S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.2% at the open, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite led the indexes lower with a loss of 0.4%.

New orders for key US-manufactured ‌capital goods increased more ‌than expected in February, but data ​for the prior month was revised sharply lower, suggesting some moderation in business spending ‌on equipment ⁠in the first quarter. Non-defense capital goods orders excluding ⁠aircraft, a closely watched proxy for business spending, rose ​0.6% after ​a ​downwardly revised 0.4% ‌drop in January, the Commerce Department’s Census Bureau said on Tuesday.

Oil prices rallied Tuesday morning after comments from President Trump suggested the US leader is planning to stick to his imposed deadline of 8 pm ET tonight before ordering a widespread airstrike campaign inside Iran. Futures on Brent crude, the international pricing benchmark, surged by 1.3% to trade above $111 per barrel. Those on US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude jumped by 3.3% to change hands around $116 per barrel.

US stock futures slipped on Tuesday after President Trump escalated bombing rhetoric ahead of his fast-approaching deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face strikes to destroy its key infrastructure. Contracts on the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average slid about 0.6% and 0.4%, respectively, unwinding earlier slight premarket gains. Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.8% after Wall Street stocks finished in positive territory on Monday.

A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will. However, now that we have Complete and Total Regime Change, where different, smarter, and less radicalized minds prevail, maybe something revolutionarily wonderful can happen, WHO KNOWS? We will find out tonight, one of the most important moments in the long and complex history of the World. 47 years of extortion, corruption, and death, will finally end. God Bless the Great People of Iran! – Tump on Truth Social

The growing stress in the oil market triggered by the war in West Asia is showing up in huge premiums for prompt real-world barrels, with the wider Brent complex working as it should, according to Morgan Stanley.

Buyers are “paying an exceptional premium for secure, refinery-usable Atlantic Basin barrels available now,” analysts including Martijn Rats said in a note dated April 7. “That does not mean the futures market is broken. It just means that different parts of the complex are pricing different combinations of immediacy, tightness and expected persistence,” they added.

Bitcoin dropped nearly 2% overnight as the US-Israeli war against Iran spooked risk favouring investors amid high volatility. The cryptocurrency quoted at $68,356, down 1.77% as of around 5.30 pm IST. Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency, slipped as much as 2.2% and was trading near $68,800 on Tuesday afternoon in Singapore, giving up gains from the previous session. The token had briefly crossed $70,000 on Monday for the first time since March. Other digital assets also weakened, with Ether, the second‑largest cryptocurrency, falling up to 2.8%.

“Bitcoin sentiment remains bearish in the short to medium term,” a Yahoo Finance report quoted Rachael Lucas, an analyst at BTC Markets. She noted that investors are largely in wait‑and‑watch mode, with bulls lacking the confidence to push prices higher and bears unable to trigger a sharp breakdown.

Markets are closely tracking developments in West Asia. Trump has given another 48-hour deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, set to expire Tuesday evening.

Good evening and welcome to CNBC-TV18’s live coverage of the US markets today. For starters, futures tagged to benchmark indices on the Wall Street are indicating a subdued open as investors balance risk appetite amid the ongoing geopolitical uncertainty, especially ahead of the looming Trump-imposed deadline on Iran. At 5.08 pm IST, S&P Futures were 21 points lower, while Dow Futures traded 134 points down. Nasdaq Futures were also lower by over 100 points.

Stay tuned with us for all the latest updates from the US stock markets today. Happy readingNewsLive TVMarketPopular CategoriesCalculatorsTrending NowLet's Connect with CNBCTV 18Network 18 Group :©TV18 Broadcast Limited. All rights reserved.