Dow opens lower as Israel-Iran conflict weighs on investors

Global stocks pared gains on Tuesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average opening more than 100 points lower in early trading as Israel and Iran continued attacks against each other.

Alongside the Dow, the S&P 500 opened down 0.3%, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.5%.

These declines came as investors weighed the prospects of a quick truce versus a potential escalation of the Israel-Iran hostilities. U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent remarks and social media posts related to the conflict, as well as his early departure from the G7 summit, stoked fears that a swift ceasefire was unlikely.

Trump said in a post on Truth Social:

“Publicity seeking President Emmanuel Macron, of France, mistakenly said that I left the G7 Summit, in Canada, to go back to D.C. to work on a “cease fire” between Israel and Iran. Wrong! He has no idea why I am now on my way to Washington, but it certainly has nothing to do with a Cease Fire. Much bigger than that. Whether purposely or not, Emmanuel always gets it wrong.”

Market reactions were swift. Oil prices jumped 2%, while cryptocurrencies retreated, with Bitcoin (BTC) dipping from above $108,000 to around $105,500.

Notably, stocks were showing weakness after signaling massive resilience in the past week. The major U.S. indices showed this with an uptick on June 16, with the S&P 500 holding above 6,000 despite the missile attacks on Tehran and Tel Aviv. 

Eric Balchunas, senior ETF analyst at Bloomberg, weighed in on the market’s performance:

On the data front, new figures released on June 17 showed that U.S. retail sales slipped in May, reflecting a pullback in consumer spending. Retail sales declined by 0.9%, exceeding expectations of a 0.6% drop.

Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve’s two-day policy meeting began Tuesday, with markets closely watching for any shift in language when the FOMC decision is announced on Wednesday, June 18. Analysts broadly expect the Fed to hold interest rates steady.