Stocks Close Roughly Flat After Trump Withdraws From Iran Deal - U.S. Commentary

(RTTNews) - Stocks saw a negative bias throughout much of the trading session on Tuesday before ending the day roughly flat. The major averages closed near the unchanged line after recovering from the lows set in afternoon trading.

The major averages all ended the day showing moves of less than a tenth of a percent. While the S&P 500 edged down 0.71 points to 2,671.92, the Dow inched up 2.89 points to 24,360.21 and the Nasdaq crept up 1.69 points to 7,266.90.

The lackluster close by the major averages came following President Donald Trump's announcement of his controversial but widely expected decision to withdraw from an international agreement intended to limit Iran's nuclear program.

Trump harshly criticized the nuclear agreement with Iran in remarks from the White House and signed a memorandum re-imposing sanctions on Iran.

"I am announcing today that the United States will withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal," Trump said. "We will be instituting the highest level of economic sanctions."

"The United States no longer makes empty threats," added Trump, who criticized the deal throughout his presidential campaign. "When I make promises, I keep them."

The agreement negotiated under former President Barack Obama involved the U.S. and Iran as well as China, France, Russia, the U.K., Germany and the European Union.

Trading activity on the day was somewhat subdued, as a lack of major U.S. economic data kept some traders on the sidelines.

Utilities stocks turned in some of the market's worst performances on the day, resulting in a 2.4 percent slump by the Dow Jones Utilities Average.

Considerable weakness was also visible among telecom stocks, as reflected by the 1.6 percent drop by the NYSE Arca North American Telecom Index.

On the other hand, energy and banking stocks saw notable strength, offsetting the weakness seen in the aforementioned sectors.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Tuesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index edged up by 0.2 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index jumped by 1.4 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets ended the day modestly lower. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index closed just below the unchanged, the French CAC 40 Index slipped by 0.2 percent and the German DAX Index dipped by 0.3 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries climbed off their worst levels of the day but still closed modestly lower. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, rose by 1.9 basis points to 2.969 percent.

Following a quiet day on the U.S. economic front, trading on Wednesday may be impacted by reaction to a report on producer price inflation.

On the earnings front, Disney (DIS), Electronic Arts (EA), Etsy (ETSY), Marriott (MAR), and Wendy's (WEN) are among the companies releasing their quarterly results after the close of today's trading.

Anheuser-Busch InBev (BUD), Groupon (GRPN), Office Depot (ODP), and Toyota (TM) are also among the companies due to report their quarterly results before the start of trading on Wednesday.