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

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.