US Equities End Mixed as Investors Closely Watch Middle East Developments

04:58 PM EDT, 06/20/2025 (MT Newswires) -- US equities closed mixed in choppy trading Friday as investors kept tabs on developments in the Middle East while digesting comments by a Federal Reserve governor.

The Nasdaq Composite fell 0.5% to 19,447.41, while the S&P 500 lost 0.2% to 5,967.84. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.1% to 42,206.82. Communication services led decliners among sectors, while energy saw the biggest gain.

For the week, the S&P 500 fell 0.2%, the Nasdaq gained 0.2% and the Dow was little changed.

US President Donald Trump said he will allow two weeks for diplomacy before deciding whether to launch a strike against Iran amid its ongoing conflict with Israel.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil was down 0.2% at $75 a barrel in late-afternoon trade, but was headed for a weekly gain amid mounting supply concerns.

"With Iran vowing to respond with missiles and drone attacks and rising fears of US involvement in strikes on Tehran and its underground nuclear facilities, the escalation has once again raised fears of broader conflict in a region responsible for a third of global oil output," Saxo Bank Head of Commodity Strategy Ole Hansen said.

US Treasury yields were lower, with the two-year rate falling 3.8 basis points to 3.92% and the 10-year rate losing 1.4 basis points to 4.38%.

The Fed may be in a position to ease monetary policy "as early as July," as tariffs are unlikely to increase inflation significantly, Governor Christopher Waller said on CNBC. "That would be my view, whether the committee would go along with it or not."

On Wednesday, the central bank's Federal Open Market Committee kept its policy rate unchanged for a fourth straight meeting, while sticking to its federal funds rate outlook for 2025 amid higher inflation expectations.

"Uncertainty around growth, unemployment, and inflation all remained elevated, even if slightly less than in March on the growth and unemployment fronts," Morgan Stanley said Friday in a note. "Risks also remained skewed to the downside for growth, upside for unemployment, and upside for inflation."

In company news, Accenture (ACN) raised its full-year earnings outlook and reported fiscal third-quarter results above market expectations, though the consulting firm's bookings declined on an annual basis. The company's shares fell 6.9%, the steepest decline on the S&P.

Nvidia (NVDA) shares declined 1.2%, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM) shed 1.9%. A US official has told major global chipmakers that he wanted to revoke waivers that allow them to ship US chip-making equipment to their factories in China without individual licenses, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

Kroger (KR) raised its guidance for identical sales growth for fiscal 2025 after the supermarket chain reported a year-on-year increase in the metric for the first quarter. The company's shares jumped 9.8%, the top gainer on the S&P.

CarMax (KMX) shares rose 6.6%, the third-biggest advance on the S&P, after the used-vehicle retailer logged better-than-expected fiscal first-quarter results amid higher sales for used vehicles despite lower prices.

Couchbase (BASE) shares surged 29% after the software provider said it has agreed to be acquired by private-equity firm Haveli Investments in a roughly $1.5 billion all-cash deal.

In economic news, manufacturing activity in the US Mid-Atlantic region remained in contraction territory in June, while the employment gauge reached the lowest since May 2020, a survey from the Philadelphia Fed showed.

Gold was down 0.7% at $3,383.30 per troy ounce, while silver fell 2.6% to $35.97 per ounce.

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