Stocks close lower on fading hopes for quick Iran deal

STORY: Wall Street's main indexes closed lower on Thursday, with the Dow dipping more than a third of a percent, the S&P 500 shedding about four-tenths of a percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq dropping roughly nine-tenths of a percent.Hopes dimmed for a quick end to the Middle East conflict after reports that Iran's Parliament Speaker had resigned from the negotiating team.Losses were extended as oil prices shot higher after reports of air attacks in Iran.Dean Smith is chief strategist and portfolio manager at FolioBeyond."It's very difficult to judge on a day-to-day and certainly hour to hour and tweet by tweet basis how this is going to play out. And really, investors should mostly not try to do that. The situation in the energy markets and the global economy is pretty serious, and it's going to take quite a while to resolve. [FLASH] So people who are looking for a really quick resolution and trying to trade on these headlines are making a mistake.":: ArchiveMeanwhile, investors grappled with a mixed bag of earnings reports as concerns resurfaced about AI-driven disruption across the software sector.:: ServiceNowShares of ServiceNow slumped nearly 18% after the software company said revenue growth was dented by delays in closing government deals in the Middle East.:: ArchiveThe stock's decline contributed to a more than 5% slide for the S&P 500 software and services index, its biggest daily percentage drop since January 29.Elsewhere in the market, shares of car-rental company Avis Budget plummeted more than 48% days after a short squeeze sent the stock on a meteoric rally reminiscent of the "meme-stock" craze.On the flip side, shares of Texas Instruments surged more than 19% for their biggest daily jump since October 2000, after the company forecast second-quarter revenue and profit above Wall Street expectations.