NEW YORK: Wall Street stocks fell in early trading Tuesday, pulling back after two upbeat sessions ahead of a major US announcement on Iran policy.
About 15 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 0.2 percent to 24,304.78.
The broad-based S&P 500 lost 0.3 percent to 2,666.04, and the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite also declined 0.3 percent to 7,246.96.
US President Donald Trump will announce his decision on the Iran nuclear deal signed by the previous administration at 2:00 p.m. (1800 GMT).
Speculation he will withdraw the US from the deal fueled petroleum-linked equities and oil prices, which closed on Monday above $70 a barrel in New York for the first time since late 2014.
But petroleum-linked shares were mixed early Tuesday and oil prices were down, suggesting to some analysts that investors were repositioning after having already bet that Trump will exit the deal.
Shares of 21st Century Fox jumped 2.9 percent following reports cable provider Comcast is lining up financing for a possible bid for key Fox assets. That would challenge an existing deal between Disney and Fox.
Dow member Disney, which reports earnings later Tuesday, was down 0.3 percent, while Comcast fell 1.6 percent.
Citigroup jumped 2.3 percent following news activist fund ValueAct Capital Management built a $1.2 billion stake in the bank.
Hertz slumped 10.7 percent after the car-rental company reported a loss of $202 million in the first quarter.
Source: Brecorder