(Updates to afternoon New York trading)

* Uncertainty over US-Iran war weighs on markets

* Apple ( AAPL ) names hardware veteran Ternus as CEO to succeed

Cook

* UnitedHealth ( UNH ) gains after raising FY profit outlook

* Indexes down: Dow 0.34%, S&P 500 0.4%, Nasdaq 0.28%

By Chuck Mikolajczak and Niket Nishant

April 21 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks declined on Tuesday,

with early gains dissipating as renewed concerns about the

Middle East war outweighed early optimism over a round of solid

corporate earnings.

The Israeli military said Lebanon's Iran-aligned Hezbollah had

fired several rockets toward its troops operating in southern

Lebanon, in what it described as a "blatant violation" of the

ceasefire agreement.

Pakistan is awaiting a formal response from Iran to confirm it

will send a delegation to attend a second round of peace talks

with the U.S. in Islamabad, the country's Information Minister

Attaullah ​Tarar said on X, with plans for U.S. Vice President

JD Vance to travel to the region for talks on hold without

Iranian confirmation.

In an interview with CNBC earlier in the day, U.S. President

Donald Trump said he does not want to extend the ceasefire with

Iran, which is set to expire soon.

Stocks have rallied in recent weeks on the belief that a

peace deal was likely in the near future.

"There's two things going on - what is the resolution going

to be or the path going to be for Iran, but in the meantime if

that wasn't there, you've got really good expectations for

earnings coming in and the companies are pretty much reporting

that way, and the economy is doing fine," said Thomas Martin,

senior portfolio manager at GLOBALT Investments in Atlanta.

"The wild card is indeed what happens with Iran, and nobody

knows, and it's baffling to me to think that people think that

it's going to be OK."

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 167.35 points,

or 0.34%, to 49,275.21, the S&P 500 lost 28.10 points, or

0.4%, to 7,081.01 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 69.58

points, or 0.28%, to 24,334.82.

The indexes were in positive territory earlier in the

session.

Earlier economic data from the Commerce Department showed

U.S. retail sales increased more than expected in March as the

war with Iran boosted gasoline prices and led to a record surge

in receipts at service stations.

Retail sales jumped 1.7% last month, the largest rise since

March 2025, after an upwardly revised 0.7% gain in February and

above the 1.4% estimate of economists polled by Reuters.

EARNINGS, AI REASSURE INVESTORS

Optimism around AI and upbeat earnings have cheered

investors, with first-quarter growth expectations of around 14%,

according to LSEG data.

J.P. Morgan raised its year-end target for the S&P 500, citing

AI and tech-driven earnings, while Amazon ( AMZN ) said on

Monday it will invest up to $25 billion in Anthropic, signaling

megacap companies are still willing to spend massively on the AI

technology. Amazon ( AMZN ) shares rose 1.2%.

The S&P 500 energy index rose more than 1% as the sole

gainer among the major S&P sectors due to another jump in crude

prices on Middle East tensions.

UnitedHealth ( UNH ) jumped nearly 9% after the healthcare

conglomerate raised its annual profit forecast and beat Wall

Street expectations for the first quarter, accounting for more

than 176 points to the upside for the Dow.

Apple ( AAPL ) shares also garnered attention, down 2.4% after

the company said CEO Tim Cook would hand over the reins to

longtime hardware boss John Ternus.

WARSH HEARING IN FOCUS

Investors were digesting comments from Kevin Warsh, Trump's

nominee to lead the Federal Reserve, whose confirmation hearing

wrapped up in the Senate on Tuesday.

Warsh called for "regime change" at the U.S. central bank that

would include a new "framework" for controlling inflation and a

possible overhaul of how it communicates with the public about

monetary policy.

Republican Senator Thom Tillis has promised to block Warsh's

confirmation until the Department of Justice ends an

investigation into current Fed Chair Jerome Powell that Tillis

says threatens the central bank's independence.

The impasse could impact monetary policy, especially as

Trump has vowed to fire Powell if he does not leave when his

term ends in May.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 2.3-to-1 ratio

on the NYSE and by a 2.1-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 posted 50 new 52-week highs and four new lows

while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 140 new highs and 47 new

lows.

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