04:48 PM EDT, 04/07/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Wall Street's key equity benchmarks closed mixed Tuesday as uncertainty prevailed ahead of President Donald Trump's deadline for Iran to fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.2% to 46,584.5. The Nasdaq Composite and the S&P 500 gained 0.1% each to settle at 22,017.9 and 6,616.9, respectively. Among sectors, communication services led the gainers, while consumer staples saw the steepest decline.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil was last down 0.4% at $111.96 a barrel.

Trump has set an 8 pm ET Tuesday deadline for Iran to agree to a ceasefire deal and fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a key trade chokepoint. Trump previously said a "whole civilization will die tonight" if there is no deal.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif sought a two-week extension of Trump's deadline and urged Iran to temporarily open the Strait of Hormuz as "a goodwill gesture."

"Diplomatic efforts for peaceful settlement of the ongoing war in the Middle East are progressing steadily, strongly and powerfully with the potential to lead to substantive results in near future," Sharif said in a social media post. "To allow diplomacy to run its course, I earnestly request President Trump to extend the deadline for two weeks."

Only 15 ships were allowed by Iran to pass through the strait over a 24-hour period, about 90% below pre-conflict levels, according to an ING Bank report on Tuesday.

The US previously hit military targets on Iran's Kharg Island, CNN reported, citing a US official, though oil facilities were spared.

US Treasury yields were lower, with the 10-year rate last down 3.9 basis points at 4.31% and the two-year rate falling 5.4 basis points to 3.81%.

In economic news, demand for US durable goods decreased more than estimated in February amid weakness in the aircraft component, government data showed.

"February's decline in durable goods orders reflected aircraft-driven swings rather than overall weakness," BMO Capital Markets said in a note. "Stripping out transportation suggests business investment will continue to support overall economic growth early this year."

In company news, Apple ( AAPL ) shares fell 2.1%, among the worst performers on the Dow. The technology giant is facing issues in the engineering test phase of its foldable iPhone, potentially delaying the smartphone's production and shipment schedules, Nikkei Asia reported, citing unnamed sources.

UnitedHealth Group ( UNH ) shares jumped 9.4%, the top gainer on the Dow and the second best performer on the S&P 500. Humana (HUM) surged 7.9%, while CVS Health ( CVS ) advanced 6.7%, both among the best S&P 500 performers. On Monday, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services finalized 2027 Medicare Advantage payment rates above projections, Reuters reported.

Broadcom ( AVGO ) shares advanced 6.2%, also among the top gainers on the S&P 500. On Monday, the chipmaker agreed to produce artificial intelligence chips for Alphabet's (GOOG, GOOGL) Google ( GOOG ) and expanded its collaboration with Amazon ( AMZN )-backed (AMZN) AI startup Anthropic.

Gold was last up 1.1% at $4,733.70 per troy ounce, while silver rose 0.3% to $73.08 per ounce.