US Stocks Volatile on Iran Strait Deadline

U.S. stocks experienced sharp volatility on Tuesday as investors braced for President Donald Trump's 8 p.m. Eastern time deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, threatening strikes on the country's power plants and bridges if demands go unmet. The S&P 500 fell as much as 1.2 percent early in the session before rallying to close 0.1 percent higher, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.2 percent and the Nasdaq Composite edged up 0.1 percent. Trading unfolded in New York amid heightened tensions in the five-week-old conflict between the United States, Israel, and Iran.

The deadline marked another escalation in a war that began in late February with U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iranian targets. Trump reiterated his ultimatum on social media, stating that failure to comply could mean "a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again." Iranian officials responded by urging citizens, particularly young people, to form human chains to safeguard threatened infrastructure, while rejecting a recent ceasefire proposal in favor of a permanent end to hostilities without preconditions. Reports indicated U.S. strikes overnight on military sites at...