US stocks end mixed on signs of progress before Trump's Iran deadline

STORY: Wall Street's main indexes ended mixed, with the Dow dipping almost two-tenths of a percent, and the S&P 500 and Nasdaq moving marginally higher.:: FileStocks pared deeper losses in the last hour of trading, with S&P 500 and Nasdaq edging into positive territory minutes before the closing bell.The reversal came after Pakistan's prime minister said on X that diplomatic efforts for a peaceful settlement of the war in the Middle East were progressing steadily.He urged President Donald Trump to extend his Tuesday deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz for two weeks, and requested that Iran open the Strait for the same timeframe as a gesture of good will.But Matt Stucky, chief portfolio manager for equities at Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Company, said that a near-term off-ramp could still leave markets in murky waters."Unfortunately, with this conflict in the Middle East, the theater of this engagement has become more widespread. And if we were to see potentially the U.S. back away from involvement, there's still the lingering concern that markets are likely to have that traffic through the Strait of Hormuz will likely continue to be in a diminished capacity or in a kind of more expensive profile for seeing transit through that strait. So it's a messier de-escalation ramp exit versus what we saw at this point last year with Liberation Day."Among the session's stock moves, UnitedHealth jumped nearly 9.5% after the U.S. government announced on Monday it would raise payments to private insurers offering Medicare Advantage plans to older adults, an increase from the near-flat change proposed earlier. Peer Humana rose about 8% and CVS Health gained more than 6.5%.Shares of Apple dropped more than 2% after a report that the tech giant's long-awaited foldable phone is encountering engineering setbacks.And chipmaker Broadcom climbed more than 6% after signing a long-term deal with Alphabet to develop its AI chips and other components.