S&P 500, Dow end lower as escalating Iran war sours risk appetite

STORY: U.S. stocks closed mostly lower on Wednesday, with the Dow making the biggest move, dropping six-tenths of a percent, the S&P 500 dipping slightly lower and the Nasdaq posting a fractional gain.Trading was choppy for much of the session as investors looked past a backward-looking inflation report and focused instead on the volatile oil prices of today, explains Brian Krawez, president of Scharf Investments."We had CPI this morning. It was in line. The question on investors' minds, however, is going forward, obviously with the war in Iran, you've seen oil prices go up. For every increase in oil by around $20 a barrel, you get an additional 0.6% to CPI. So obviously with oil having gone over $100 a barrel recently with the war, that's going to be a question going forward. And if you look at rate cut expectations, the market has actually pushed those out in terms of probabilities with a lower probability, that you can get a rate cut in September now whereas before the market was looking for a June cut.”Stocks on the move Wednesday included Oracle, which surged more than 9% after the company provided better-than-expected revenue guidance, betting that the AI-related spending boom will extend through 2027.Shares of Campbell's tumbled 7% after the packaged food company cut its annual forecasts and warned of increasing pressure in the second half from revised U.S. tariffs.And shares of defense company AeroVironment dropped more than 6% after forecasting 2026 adjusted profit below Wall Street estimates.