US Equity Indexes, Treasury Yields Mixed as Headline Risk Mounts in Middle East Energy Markets

04:59 PM EDT, 03/10/2026 (MT Newswires) -- US equity indexes closed mixed on Tuesday, giving up intraday gains as investors monitored developments in the Middle East energy markets and weighed the possibility of an early end to the Iran war.

The Nasdaq Composite was little changed at 22,697.10, the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped by less than 0.1% to 47,706.51, and the S&P 500 fell 0.2% to 6,781.48.

All but two sectors, technology and communication services, fell. Energy, utilities, and health care led the decliners.

The US and Iran escalated attacks on the 11th day of the war as oil markets saw fresh volatility and the Trump administration said it's keeping open additional options to curb spiking energy prices, Bloomberg reported. The White House acknowledged that a post from US Energy Secretary Chris Wright had erroneously claimed that an oil tanker had been escorted through the Strait of Hormuz, the news report added.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt added that the US military is "drawing up additional options" to address any attempt by Iran to constrain trade through the vital artery. Iran has begun laying mines in the world's most important energy chokepoint that carries about one-fifth of all crude oil, CNN reported, citing two people familiar with US intelligence.

Meanwhile, the Group of Seven energy ministers on Tuesday tasked the International Energy Agency to provide scenarios for "a potential oil stock release" that will allow the group, which includes the UK, to "act at any moment." This comes after President Trump late Monday said in a press conference that the war is "very complete, pretty much" and that he expects strikes to end soon.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures were down 8% to $87.07 after the equity market close on Tuesday. It traded more than 12% lower earlier in the session.

US Treasury yields traded mixed, with the 10-year yield rising 1.8 basis points to 4.15%, clawing back all of its intraday declines.

The ICE US Dollar Index, which measures the strength of the greenback against a basket of the world's major currencies, fell 0.3% to 98.92, paring its losses of about 0.6% earlier in the session.

In precious metals, gold futures jumped 1.9% to $5,202.8 per troy ounce, and silver futures jumped 5% to $88.71 per troy ounce.

In company news, Boeing (BA) will delay deliveries of some 737 MAX aircraft after discovering scratched wiring on newly built planes due to a machining error, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday. Boeing (BA) didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from MT Newswires. Shares of the aircraft manufacturer fell 3.2%, the Dow's worst performer.

In economic news, US existing home sales unexpectedly increased in February as lower mortgage rates helped improve affordability, data from the National Association of Realtors showed Tuesday. Sales rose 1.7% sequentially to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.09 million units last month. The consensus was for a 0.8% decline in a Bloomberg-compiled survey.

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