Stocks had a choppy session, with the major averages facing several intraday swings amid conflicting reports regarding the state of ceasefire negotiations between the U.S. and Iran.

The S&P 500 (+0.1%), Nasdaq Composite (+0.1%), and DJIA (-0.2%) opened to losses of roughly 1.0% as President Trump's 8:00 p.m. ET deadline loomed, with the president threatening a "whole civilization will die tonight" if a deal is not struck.

The major averages fluctuated throughout the session amid conflicting reports of where negotiations stood or if communications between the U.S. and Iran were even open.

In the final hour of the session, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif requested that President Trump extend the deadline for two weeks and that Iran open the Strait of Hormuz for a corresponding period of two weeks. Pakistan is a key mediator in the negotiations, and White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that the President has been made aware of the proposal, and a response will come.

Crude oil futures settled today's session $0.60 higher (+0.5%) at $112.85 per barrel, which was well off session highs, but retreated even further following the Pakistani peace proposal.

The late session rally saw five S&P 500 sectors finish with gains after participation was notably weaker for most of the session.

The communication services sector (+1.0%) captured the widest gain, with Paramount Skydance (PSKY 10.90, +1.05, +10.66%) finishing as the best-performing S&P 500 component after the company confirmed commitments from Saudi-wealth funds for its takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD 27.37, -0.04, -0.15%).

Alphabet (GOOG 303.93, +6.27, +2.11%) was a mega-cap standout after announcing a long-term partnership with Broadcom (AVGO 333.97, +19.54, +6.21%), in which Broadcom will work to develop and supply custom Tensor Processing Units (TPUs) to Google.

Strength across chipmaker names helped the information technology sector (+0.4%) notch a higher finish after holding an early loss that exceeded 1.0%. Apple (AAPL 253.50, -5.36, -2.07%) was a laggard today after Nikkei Asia reported that its foldable iPhone will likely be delayed due to engineering hurdles.

Elsewhere, managed care names such as UnitedHealth (UNH 307.73, +26.37, +9.37%) and Humana (HUM 197.15, +14.50, +7.94%) rallied after the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services released its CY27 Medicare Advantage (MA) and Part D Rate Announcement, which came in meaningfully better than expected and eased concerns about ongoing margin pressure.

The health care sector (+0.2%) notched a modest gain, while the utilities sector (+0.3%) finished similarly, and the energy sector (+0.8%) outperformed.

Meanwhile, the consumer staples (-1.8%) and consumer discretionary (-0.9%) sectors were today's worst performers, with particular weakness across specialty stores and homebuilders.

Similar to the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite, the Russell 2000 (+0.2%) and S&P Mid Cap 400 (+0.1%) eked out a gain as the broader market rallied in the final hour of the session.

Today's action underscores that oil prices are continuing to drive the stock market, with the major averages whipsawing intraday amid conflicting reports on U.S.--Iran ceasefire negotiations ahead of tonight's 8:00 p.m. ET deadline. The approaching deadline adds urgency to the headlines, keeping volatility elevated. Until there is more clarity on the outcome, markets are likely to remain sensitive to every development in the U.S.--Iran talks.

U.S. Treasuries had a mixed showing on Tuesday, as shorter tenors recovered from a lower start while longer tenors could not stay out of the red. The bounce off morning lows found some midday resistance, but a strong $58 bln 3-year note auction gave the complex an afternoon boost that helped 5s and shorter tenors finish in the green. The 2-year note yield settled down two basis points to 3.83%, and the 10-year note yield settled up one basis point to 4.34%. 

• S&P Mid Cap 400: +3.7% YTD
• Russell 2000: +2.5% YTD
• DJIA: -3.1% YTD
• S&P 500: -3.3% YTD
• Nasdaq Composite: -5.3% YTD

Reviewing today's data:

• Durable goods orders decreased 1.4% month-over-month in February (Briefing.com consensus: 0.5%) following a downwardly revised 0.5% decline (from 0.0%) in January. Excluding transportation, durable goods orders increased 0.8% (Briefing.com consensus: 0.5%) following a downwardly revised 0.3% increase (from 0.4%) in January.
  
  • The key takeaway from the report is that the weakness in February was concentrated largely in transportation and capital goods orders. Otherwise, order activity was decent, highlighted by a 0.6% increase in new orders for nondefense capital goods, excluding aircraft-a proxy for business spending.
• Consumer credit increased by $9.5 billion in February (Briefing.com consensus $7.0 billion) after increasing by a revised $7.7 billion (from $8.1 billion) in January. Nonrevolving credit increased by $8.8 billion while revolving credit increased by $700 million.