Stock markets closed the day in the red on Tuesday, largely paring afternoon losses as President Trump vowed to retaliate against Iran for the downing of a U.S. military helicopter over the Strait of Hormuz, the Israeli military struck southern Lebanon and investors renewed selling of semiconductor shares.
Oil prices, which had fallen sharply earlier in the day, continued to trade lower but trimmed some of their decline amid signs that the cease-fire in the Middle East remained fragile.
But the sell-off in stocks appeared more driven by a sharp drop in tech and semiconductor shares ahead of SpaceX’s large public offering on Friday and a broader deluge of debt and equity issuance to fund artificial intelligence infrastructure.
