Traders work at the New York Stock Exchange on June 3, 2026.
NYSE
U.S. equities fell on Wednesday after President Donald Trump signaled that negotiations with Iran were taking “too long” and threatened more action.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 953.33 points, or 1.87%, to 49,918.78. The S&P 500 lost 1.62% to end at 7,266.99, and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.98% to settle at 25,169.50.
The major averages dropped after Trump pledged more Iran attacks, saying that “we’re going to be attacking them very hard.” He wrote early Wednesday that Iran has “taken too long to negotiate a deal that would have been great for them, now they will have to pay the price!!!”
Oil prices rose after Trump’s threats. West Texas Intermediate crude futures settled up 2.07% to $90.03 a barrel, while Brent crude advanced 1.8% to settle at $93.10.
Tensions in the Middle East ramped up again Tuesday evening, after U.S. forces launched strikes against Iran “in response to [Monday’s] downing of a U.S. Army Apache helicopter,” U.S. Central Command said. Trump had earlier accused Iran of shooting down the helicopter, which he said was patrolling over the Strait of Hormuz.
“The Iran war story is really consequential,” said Jed Ellerbroek, portfolio manager at Argent Capital Management. “Either investors are going to be proven right, that [there’s] nothing to worry about, Trump will take care of it, we’ll get a deal with Iran and the strait will open up, but if not, it feels like oil prices are going to have to go up a lot.”
“[In] this investing environment, it’s impossible to be comfortable,” he added.
Chip stocks came under pressure once again Wednesday. Shares of Micron Technology, Advanced Micro Devices and Broadcom were lower, falling for the fourth day in five. The iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) dropped more than 3% rolling over on Tuesday. Chip stocks were pummeled at the end of last week, culminating in a 10% decline for the SOXX ETF on Friday. The group then rebounded slightly Monday before the selling resumed Tuesday.
The stocks are coming under pressure ahead of the SpaceX IPO on Friday with some traders believing that investors, especially smaller retail participants, are shedding some of their hot chip stock winners to make room for the largest IPO ever in their portfolios. Others believe the weakness is just profit taking after such a rapid run. The SOXX ETF is still up around 80% this year.
May’s core consumer price index reading, excluding food and energy prices, was a bit lighter than expected. For the month, core CPI came in at 0.2%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s below the 0.3% Dow Jones consensus estimate. Compared to a year ago, core CPI stood at 2.9%, in line with expectations, but above the Federal Reserve’s 2% inflation target.
The headline annual inflation rate, which includes all prices, climbed above 4% for the first time in three years.
On Tuesday, chip stocks dragged down the S&P 500 and Nasdaq, while the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average finished in the green. Tuesday’s rout was an extension of last week’s pullback, which came after weeks of ferocious buying fueled by enthusiasm for all things tied to artificial intelligence.
— CNBC’s Jeff Cox and Kevin Breuninger contributed reporting.
