Stocks and oil prices hold relatively steady in the countdown to US-Iran ceasefire talks

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are wavering Tuesday as Wall Street weighs the latest round of profit reports from big companies with the lingering risks from the ongoing war between the U.S. and Iran.

UnitedHealth Group and other big companies showed they’re making even bigger profits than analysts expected. Oil prices, meanwhile, remained relatively stable as optimism seems to be sticking in financial markets that the United States and Iran will avoid a worst-case scenario for the economy, even with their war ongoing.

The S&P 500 fell 0.1%, coming off just its second drop in 14 days, and is hovering below its all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 14 points, or less than 0.1%, as of 11:16 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was mostly unchanged.

UnitedHealth helped lead the market with a jump of 7.7% after reporting stronger profit and revenue for the beginning of the year than analysts expected. It also raised its forecast for profit over the full year of 2026.

That’s big because stock prices tend to follow the path of corporate profits over the long term. It’s a double-plus for investors when companies not only top earnings estimates but also forecast even better growth ahead.

Quest Diagnostics rose 4.2% after it likewise joined the fattening list of companies topping expectations for profit and revenue during the latest quarter. It also raised its forecast for profit for the full year.

They helped offset an 8.3% drop for Tractor Supply, whose profit and revenue for the latest quarter fell short of expectations.

Other signals are also indicating the U.S. economy may be doing OK despite sharp up-and-down swings for oil prices because of the war with Iran. A report on Tuesday morning showed that U.S. retailers made more money in March, the first full month of the war, than analysts expected.

Growth was even relatively stable for retail sales when not including those from gasoline stations.

“It’s become cliched to say that the economic hit will depend on the duration of the Middle East conflict, but that cliché does ring true,” according to Brian Jacobsen, chief economic strategist at Annex Wealth Management.

The price for a barrel of Brent crude oil, the international standard, rose 1.3% to $96.72 ahead of Wednesday's scheduled expiration for a U.S.-Iran ceasefire agreement. Both sides are continuing to talk tough, but hope remains after both have signaled they will hold a new round of ceasefire talks in Pakistan.

Much of the tension in financial markets has focused on what will happen to the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway off Iran’s coast that oil tankers use to exit the Persian Gulf. A long-term closure would keep crude oil pent up in the gulf and away from customers worldwide.

The price for a barrel of Brent oil has gone from roughly $70 before the war to $119 at times as worries have risen and fallen about a long-term closure for the strait.

On Wall Street, Apple slipped 1.5% after Tim Cook said he’ll step down as CEO on Sept. 1 and become the iPhone maker’s executive chairman. He’s handing control over to John Ternus, a company veteran who rose through Apple's hardware engineering ranks.

Amazon rose 1.8% after Anthropic said it signed a new agreement and is committing more than $100 billion over the next 10 years to AWS technologies to train and run its Claude chatbot.

In stock markets abroad, indexes were lower in Europe following a stronger finish in Asia. South Korea’s Kospi rose 2.7% for one of the world’s biggest moves.

In the bond market, Treasury yields gained ground. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.29% from 4.26% late Monday.

Kevin Warsh, President Donald Trump's nominee to chair the Federal Reserve, appeared on Capitol Hill Tuesday. He's facing a tightrope walk, as investors want to see if he would maintain the Fed's independence from political meddling. During the hearing, he pledged to fight inflation even though Trump has been pushing hard for lower interest rates. Higher inflation typically leads the Fed to raise rates, or at least keep them unchanged, rather than cut them.

AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed to this report.

Specialist James Denaro works at his post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Monday, April 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

A dealer walks past the screen showing the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, April 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

A dealer walks past the screens showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, April 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

A dealer watches computer monitors at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, April 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

A dealer stands near the screens showing the foreign exchange rates at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, April 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

A dealer walks past the screens showing the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, April 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Trader Michael Milano, left, works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Monday, April 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

BRIDPORT, Vt. (AP) — An abrupt swing from hot weather to cold across the Northeast is frustrating some flower and fruit farmers who have had to either harvest blooms extra early or fear they could lose some crops altogether.

Frosty nights aren't unusual this time of year. Across the region, the average date of the last frost ranges from mid-April to early June, according to the Northeast Regional Climate Center at Cornell University. But the first half of April was unusually warm for much of the region, and that, coupled with the quick drop in temperature, could cause some problems.

Boston saw temperatures climb into the high 70s (around 26 Celsius) last week, with cities including New York, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. reaching temperatures in the 90s (around 32 Celsius), according to the National Weather Service. By the weekend, temperatures across the region dropped into the 50s (around 10 Celsius), with some areas in New England seeing snow showers.

And the cold continued into this week: The National Weather Service issued a freeze warning for Monday night and Tuesday morning for parts of Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Maryland and North Carolina.

In Ohio, the warm weather pushed peach and apple trees to start budding early at Apple Hill Orchards, which includes about 80 acres (32 hectares) in Mansfield and 110 acres (45 hectares) in Fredericktown. But the temperature then dropped into the low 20s (around minus 5 Celsius), ruining one variety of peach, said owner Anne Joudrey.

“Farming is farming, and you never know what you’re gonna get, but we had a pretty good bloom, so we were expecting a pretty good crop,” she said Monday.

The apples were doing OK, she said, and it helps that the trees are planted on high ground so cold air drains away.

“We should fare pretty well, hopefully,” she said. “But you never know.”

In Vermont, the temperature swing affected operations at Understory Farm in Bridport, which grows cut flowers. Tulips that were supposed to be ready for Mother's Day in mid-May have already bloomed in the farm's greenhouses, said owner Gregory Witscher.

“That just means that we have to harvest them all at the same time,” he said. “We have to harvest them and store them with the bulbs on in crates in a walk-in cooler for longer.”

Witscher grows about 50 varieties of flowers for wholesale markets. Weather fluctuations require flexibility, he said, and it's become more common for small vegetable and flower farms to have row covers or heaters to protect plants from cold or shade cloth for extreme heat.

“With the hot weather and then the cold weather, I think it's intense, and it makes things challenging,” he said. “The longer I do this, the more I want to have as many options as possible and have a lot of tools and resources available to be extremely nimble.”

Gregory Witscher, owner of Understory Farm, harvests tulips, Monday, April 20, 2026, in Bridport, Vt. (AP Photo/Amanda Swinhart)

A tulip is pictured at Understory Farm, Monday, April 20, 2026, in Bridport, Vt. (AP Photo/Amanda Swinhart)

Farmhand Samantha Martin harvests tulips at Understory Farm, Monday, April 20, 2026, in Bridport, Vt. (AP Photo/Amanda Swinhart)

Tulips are pictured at Understory Farm, Monday, April 20, 2026, in Bridport, Vt. (AP Photo/Amanda Swinhart)

Gregory Witscher, owner of Understory Farm, harvests tulips, Monday, April 20, 2026, in Bridport, Vt. (AP Photo/Amanda Swinhart)