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    Stock Market Today: Dow Jones, S&P 500 Futures Edge Higher With Eyes On Iran Talks—Apple, UnitedHealth, 3M In Focus

    Benzinga·04/21/2026 09:15:35
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    U.S. stock futures rose on Tuesday following Monday's decline. Futures of major benchmark indices edged up, with negotiating teams from the United States and Iran slated to arrive in Islamabad for further talks. 

    On Monday, the Dow Jones index closed about five points lower, even as tensions between the U.S. and Iran intensified as the ceasefire drew closer to expiry.

    Meanwhile, the 10-year Treasury bond yields stood at 4.252%, and the two-year bond was at 3.735% at the time of writing. The CME Group’s FedWatch tool‘s projections show markets pricing a 99.5% likelihood of the Federal Reserve leaving the current interest rates unchanged in April.

    Index Performance (+/-)
    Dow Jones 0.20%
    S&P 500 0.23%
    Nasdaq 100 0.37%
    Russell 2000 0.18%

    The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) and Invesco QQQ Trust ETF (NASDAQ:QQQ), which track the S&P 500 index and Nasdaq 100 index, respectively, were higher in premarket on Tuesday. The SPY was up 0.25% at $710.46, while the QQQ surged 0.18% to $647.97.

    Stocks In Focus

    Apple

    • Tim Cook will step down as the CEO of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in September 2026 and John Ternus will succeed him. This brings Cook's 15-year tenure as Apple's chief to an end. AAPL shares declined 0.60% in pre-market.
    • AAPL maintains a strong price trend over the short, medium, and long terms, as per Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings.

    UnitedHealth

    • Wall Street expects UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE:UNH) to report quarterly earnings at $6.58 per share on revenue of $109.58 billion before the opening bell. UNH shares rose 0.037% in pre-market trading.
    • UNH maintains a strong price trend over the short, medium, and long terms, as per Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings.

    3M

    • Analysts expect 3M Co. (NYSE:MMM) to post quarterly earnings at $1.99 per share on revenue of $6.01 billion before the opening bell. 3M shares gained 0.3% to $151.84 in after-hours trading.
    • MMM maintains a weak price trend over the short, medium, and long terms, as per Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings.

    Amazon

    • Shares of Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) rose nearly 3% in Tuesday's pre-market session after the company announced an expanded partnership with AI startup Anthropic.
    • AMZN maintains a strong price trend over the short, medium, and long terms, as per Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings.

    Spruce Biosciences

    • Shares of Spruce Biosciences Inc. (NASDAQ:SPRB) fell more than 11% in Tuesday's pre-market session after the company announced a proposed public offering of common stock and warrants.
    • SPRB maintains a strong price trend over the short term, but a weak trend over the medium and long terms, as per Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings.

    Cues From Last Session

    Materials, financials, and real estate stocks recorded the biggest gains on Monday. However, communication services, health care, and utilities recorded the biggest decline.

    Index Performance (+/-) Value
    Dow Jones -0.01% 49,442.56
    S&P 500 -0.24% 7,109.14
    Nasdaq Composite -0.26% 24,404.39
    Russell 2000 0.58% 2,792.96

    Insights From Analysts

    Analysts at Schwab Center for Financial Research on Tuesday stated that the focus today will be on the Senate Banking Committee's confirmation hearing for Federal Reserve Chair nominee, Kevin Warsh.

    "Warsh is expected to answer questions at the hearing, meaning he could be asked to discuss economic issues like inflation. With his expected ascent to the chairmanship, his comments could begin to take on more weight from a market perspective," the firm stated in a note.

    "We still have the issue of Senator Thom Tillis blocking any vote on Warsh until the criminal investigation of Powell is resolved," said Michael Townsend, managing director of legislative and regulatory affairs at Schwab. "Tillis is fine with the confirmation hearing taking place, but he won't vote for confirmation until that investigation is over."

    Upcoming Economic Data

    • On Tuesday, the Senate Banking Committee has scheduled a confirmation hearing at 10 a.m. ET for Kevin Warsh, President Donald Trump's nominee for Fed Chair.
    • On Thursday, the weekly Initial Jobless Claims report will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET.
    • On Friday, the University of Michigan's final Consumer Sentiment Index reading for April will be released at 10 a.m. ET.
    • The New York Fed Staff Nowcast is also due Friday.

    Commodities, Crypto, And Global Equity Markets

    Crude oil futures were trading lower in the early New York session by 0.32% to hover around $87.14 per barrel.

    Gold Spot US Dollar declined 0.87% to hover around $4,778.63 per ounce. Its last record high stood at $5,595.46 per ounce. The U.S. Dollar Index spot was 0.03% higher at the 98.1280 level.

    Meanwhile, Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) was trading 1.57% higher at $75,911.31 per coin, as per the last 24 hours.

    Asian markets closed higher on Tuesday. India's Nifty 50, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng, Australia’s ASX 200 indices, South Korea’s Kospi, and Japan’s Nikkei 225 indices surged. European markets were mostly lower in early trade.

    Photo courtesy: Shutterstock