Stocks slumped on Tuesday as increasing oil prices pressured already stressed outlooks as the United States-Iran ceasefire is set to expire on Wednesday.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE: DIA) fell nearly 300 points to settle at 49,149.38, while the S&P 500 Index (NYSE: SPY) and Nasdaq Composite (NASDAQ: QQQ) each lost about 0.6% to close at 7,064.01 and 24,259.96, respectively. Stocks, however, are still supported by last week's strength, which set both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq each to record intraday and closing highs -- the S&P 500 finished above 7,100 for the first time ever on Friday.
On the economic front, U.S. retail sales came in at a stronger-than-expected pace in March even as rising gas prices begin to pressure discretionary spending.
Sales rose 1.7% on the month, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday, more than doubling February's upwardly revised monthly gain of 0.7%. Excluding autos, sales rose 1.9% in March. Those gains were primarily driven by a 15.5% increase in receipt totals at gas stations as the national average price per gallon in the U.S. topped $4.
In corporate news, Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) announced veteran John Ternus will replace Tim Cook as chief executive officer of the mega-cap technology company, effective Sept. 1. Following the transition, Cook will become executive chair, using his 15-years of experience heading Apple to aid with "certain aspects of the company, including engaging with policymakers around the world."
"It has been the greatest privilege of my life to be the CEO of Apple and to have been trusted to lead such an extraordinary company," Cook said in a statement. "I love Apple with all of my being, and I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to work with a team of such ingenious, innovative, creative, and deeply caring people who have been unwavering in their dedication to enriching the lives of our customers and creating the best products and services in the world."
Ternus will become the company's eighth CEO.
Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) shares rose on Tuesday as the e-commerce giant announced it would invest up to $25 billion in Anthropic, adding to its $8 billion total investment in the artificial intelligence company. As part of the agreement, Anthropic has committed to spend more than $100 billion on Amazon Web Service technology over the next decade, including current and future generations of Amazon's custom AI chip Trainium.
"Anthropic's commitment to run its large language models on AWS Trainium for the next decade reflects the progress we've made together on custom silicon, as we continue delivering the technology and infrastructure our customers need to build with generative AI," Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said in a statement.
For Wednesday, market participants will continue to monitor the latest developments in the Middle East. Key earnings reports due out throughout the day include Tesla (NASDAQ: TLSA), IBM (NYSE: IBM), AT&T (NYSE: T), Boeing (NYSE: BA), and Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV).