Dow slips 100 points as Wall Street looks to wrap up a standout quarter

Wall Street opened little changed on Tuesday as investors entered the final trading session of the quarter.

Markets remained on track to wrap up one of their strongest quarterly performances in years despite lingering geopolitical tensions and concerns over artificial intelligence spending.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 101 points while the S&P 500 was nearly flat with a 0.01% gain and the Nasdaq Composite was up by 0.27%.

Investors were also preparing for a series of key economic releases later in the day, including the JOLTS job openings report and the Conference Board's consumer confidence index.

Market participants will also monitor comments from Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh at a high-profile economic conference in Portugal.

Stocks poised for best quarter in years

Despite recent volatility, US equities remained on track to post their strongest quarterly gains in several years.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite were set for their best quarterly performances in six years, while the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average was headed for its biggest quarterly gain since 2022.

The first half of the year has also been strong overall.

The Dow has climbed 8.6%, putting it on pace for its best first-half performance since 2021.

The S&P 500 has gained more than 8%, while the Nasdaq has advanced 11.1%.

The small-cap Russell 2000 has surged more than 21%, positioning it for its strongest first half since 1991.

The second quarter has been particularly robust.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq were on track to rise about 14% and 19.6%, respectively, marking their biggest quarterly gains since the second quarter of 2020.

The Dow has climbed 12.6% during the quarter, its strongest performance since the fourth quarter of 2022.

Markets have remained resilient despite a challenging backdrop that included geopolitical tensions, an oil price shock, and questions about the sustainability of AI-related spending.

However, recent weakness has left the S&P 500 and Nasdaq on course to snap their two-month winning streaks in June, while the Dow is poised to record a third consecutive monthly gain.

Oil, AI concerns and Fed outlook stay in focus

Oil prices edged higher on Tuesday, with US West Texas Intermediate crude trading around $71 per barrel and Brent crude near $73 per barrel, as uncertainty surrounding the Middle East conflict continued to influence sentiment.

Monday's rally came after the United States and Iran agreed to halt attacks and allow commercial vessels to move freely through the Strait of Hormuz, boosting investor confidence.

The S&P 500 gained 1.18% and the Nasdaq Composite rose 2.07% during the previous session.

Some market observers cautioned that further gains in the second half of the year may depend on progress in negotiations aimed at ending the US-Iran conflict.

Meanwhile, traders are pricing in at least one Federal Reserve rate hike by the end of 2026, according to LSEG data.

Market movers reflect mixed sentiments

Among individual stocks, customer experience company Concentrix plunged 18% in trading after lowering its full-year revenue and adjusted profit forecasts.

Defense technology company AeroVironment jumped 19% after reporting a sharp increase in quarterly revenue.

Financial stocks also came under pressure after Oppenheimer downgraded several major Wall Street investment banks.

Morgan Stanley fell 1.2% and Goldman Sachs declined 1.24% in trading after being downgraded to "underperform" from "perform."

Bank of America and Citigroup also slipped 1.6% after their ratings were lowered to "perform" from "outperform."