S&P 500, Nasdaq Composite gain 1%, energy and defense stocks fall amid ceasefire optimism

oil prices fall sharply after US President Donald J Trump in a post on Truth Social said that China can buy crude from Iran.

At mid market, US markets continued to trade in the green as investor optimism continued to drive the markets on the ceasefire between Israel and Iran. At 12:16 pm ET (9:50 AM IST), the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed was up by 1.02 percent,  the S&P 500 gained 1.01 percent, and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 1.4 percent.

Meanwhile, oil prices fall sharply after US President Donald J Trump in a post on Truth Social said that China can buy crude from Iran. Brent crude futures fell $3.29, or 4.6 percent, to $68.19 a barrel at 10:43 EDT, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell $3.20, or 4.7 percent, to $65.31, according to a Reuters report.

US defense stocks also declined on Tuesday as tensions in the Middle East appeared to ease, Bloomberg reported. The S&P Composite 1500 Aerospace & Defense Index fell as much as 1.2% in response. Among the biggest losers, Kratos Defense & Security dropped 7.2%, Mercury Systems fell 4.3%, Northrop Grumman slipped 2.5%, Huntington Ingalls also declined 2.5%, and Axon Enterprise was down 2.1%. A similar trend was seen across Asian markets also earlier in the day.

In terms of sectors, the top gainers were technology, communication services and financials. Most sectors were in the green except for energy and consumer staples.

CNBC reported that Exchange-traded funds tied to metals slid in Tuesday’s session as concerns tied to conflict in the Middle East cooled off.

In other markets, optimism on the Iran-Israel ceasefire guided the markets as they closed in the green. The Stoxx Europe 600 index rose around 1.2 percent for the day while Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC 40 rose 1.6% and 1% respectively. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 tentatively closed flat. The biggest gainers during the session were in the travel and tourism segment while the biggest losers were oil, gas and defence stocks.

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