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Solar stocks down as Senate proposes to phase out tax

credits

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Eli Lilly ( LLY ) to acquire Verve Therapeutics ( VERV ) for up to $1.3 bln

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Retail sales post biggest drop in four months in May

(Updates to close)

By Caroline Valetkevitch

NEW YORK, June 17 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks ended lower on

Tuesday as the Israel-Iran conflict raged on for a fifth day and

kept investor anxiety high, with the U.S. military moving

fighter jets to the Middle East.

Indexes added to losses in afternoon trading. The Cboe

Volatility index climbed.

Reuters reported, citing three U.S. officials, that the U.S.

military is deploying more fighter aircraft to the Middle East

and extending the deployment of other warplanes.

President Donald Trump called for Iran's "unconditional

surrender." The war began on Friday when Israel attacked Iran's

nuclear facilities.

"We're in a period where visibility is not great,

uncertainty is high, and the wall of worry is under

construction," said Terry Sandven, chief equity strategist at

U.S. Bank Wealth Management in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Besides the Middle East conflict, investors are closely

watching for any new information on Trump's tariffs, his tax-cut

bill and U.S. interest rates.

The Federal Reserve is expected to announce a monetary

policy decision on Wednesday, although policymakers are expected

to leave rates unchanged.

All of the major S&P 500 sectors were lower except for energy

, which gained along with sharply higher oil prices.

Investors have worried that the conflict could create

bottlenecks for oil exports from the oil-rich Middle East.

According to preliminary data, the S&P 500 lost 51.06

points, or 0.85%, to end at 5,982.05 points, while the Nasdaq

Composite lost 180.12 points, or 0.92%, to 19,521.09.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 305.20 points, or

0.72%, to 42,209.89.

Earlier Tuesday, data showed U.S. retail sales dropped more

than expected in May, while factory production barely rose last

month.

"A data-dependent Fed is going to have a lot of explaining

to do about why it's not responding to the data," said Brian

Jacobsen, chief economist at Annex Wealth Management.

Among declining stocks, solar stocks fell after U.S. Senate

Republicans late on Monday unveiled proposed changes to Trump's

tax-cut bill, including a phase-out of solar, wind and energy

tax credits by 2028.

Shares of Enphase Energy ( ENPH ) and Sunrun ( RUN )

dropped.

Eli Lilly ( LLY ) shares eased after it agreed to acquire

Verve Therapeutics ( VERV ) for up to $1.3 billion. Shares of

Verve surged.

(Additional Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak and Kanchana

Chakravarty and Sukriti Gupta in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju

Samuel)