Wall Street Slips as US-Iran Tensions Drag Nasdaq Down 0.54%

3 articles · Updated · Detroit News · Jul 1

By 10:01 a.m. ET, the Nasdaq had fallen 0.54%, the S&P 500 0.26% and the Dow 0.11% as renewed U.S.-Iran strains darkened sentiment at the start of the second half.
Tehran said it would not meet top U.S. envoys in the region, and although U.S. and Iranian officials held technical talks in Doha, conflicting signals suggested any breakthrough remained distant.
The Middle East backdrop added to existing caution over U.S. rates, with traders still expecting at least one Federal Reserve hike by year-end and June manufacturing data showing activity slowed after May's surge.
Technology stocks led the retreat, with the sector down 1.4%, though Meta jumped 8.4% on a report it is building a cloud business to sell excess AI computing capacity.
The pullback followed a strong second quarter, when the S&P 500 and Nasdaq posted their best quarterly gains since 2020 and the Dow logged its strongest quarter since 2022.