U.S. equities finished meaningfully higher on Tuesday.

The S&P 500 rose 1.18% to close at 6,967.38, while the Nasdaq Composite jumped 1.96% to end at 23,639.08. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 317.74 points, or 0.66%, to 48,535.99.

— Sean Conlon

The proposed United Airlines merger with American Airlines would likely raise antitrust concern, according to Wells Fargo.

Bloomberg reported on Monday that United CEO Scott Kirby floated the idea, which would create the largest airline globally. United and American combined have over $100 billion in revenue and control more than a third of the market, raising concerns about the how the deal could impact ticket prices and smaller airlines.

Wells Fargo analyst Christian Wetherbee also said the merger would be too large to gain approval. "On face value a merger between United and American would seem too large with a combined company controlling ~40% of Domestic capacity and concentrating ~60% among two super legacies," the analyst wrote.

The Department of Transportation and the Department of Justice would be tasked with reviewing the proposal. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said United and American would have to do away with some of their assets to get antitrust approval, according to Bloomberg.

Shares of American and United were up on Tuesday by 7% and 2%, respectively.

— Itzel Franco

On Tuesday, 18 stocks in the S&P 500 traded at new 52-week highs.

Names that hit this milestone included:

• Bank of NY Mellon trading at all-time highs back to the merger between BNY (the first company listed on the NYSE) and Mellon Financial in 2007
• Citigroup trading at levels not seen since November 2008
• State Street trading at all-time high levels back through our history to 1972
• Keysight Technologies trading at all-time highs back to its spin-off from Agilent in November 2014
• KLA Corporation trading at all-time highs, back to KLA Instruments' IPO in in 1980
• Lam Research trading at all-time high levels back to its IPO in May 1984
• Monolithic Power Systems trading at all-time highs back to its IPO in November 2004
• Vertiv Holdings trading at all-time highs back to its listing on the NYSE via SPAC merger with GS Acquisition Holdings in February 2020
• Coherent trading at all-time highs back to its IPO in March 1990

— Lisa Kailai Han

UBS is no longer bearish on Tesla as near-term demand challenges "now more evenly balance" with the longer-term AI opportunity.

The firm on Tuesday upgraded the stock to neutral and reiterated its $352 price target, which is just about 2% below its current level.

"TSLA stock trades more on sentiment, narrative and momentum than fundamentals," analyst Joseph Spak said in a note. "Recent concerns over EV demand, a 1Q26 energy shortfall, higher costs, higher capital spending requirements, and slow progress of robo-taxi and Optimus have weighed on stock, in our view. However, we do expect eventual progress on robo-taxi and Optimus and continue to view TSLA as a leader in physical AI."

Tesla shares were last higher by more than 3%.

— Tanaya Macheel

Citi expects Alphabet to post a rosy first-quarter earnings report in April and raised its projections on the technology company.

The bank reiterated a buy rating on the stock and lifted Alphabet's price target to $405 from $390, implying gains of 26% from Monday's close.

Google Cloud demand and strong online advertising checks show the company is "likely to come in above consensus revenue and profitability expectations," analyst Ronald Josey wrote. The analyst projects Alphabet will report $108 billion in revenue, while analysts polled by FactSet anticipate $106.8 billion.

— Itzel Franco

Several Wall Street analysts initiated coverage of Janus Living with overweight and buy ratings on Tuesday. The real estate investment trust, a pure play on senior housing, began trading on the New York Stock Exchange on March 20 after being spun off from Healthpeak Properties.

Bank of America said Janus Living is well positioned to benefit from the aging population, with the first baby boomers turning 80 this year.

"We believe JAN's senior housing focused strategy, conservative balance sheet, and strong operator base position the company to deliver above-average earnings growth over time," analyst Farrell Granath said in a note to clients. His $29 price target implies roughly 21% upside from Monday's close.

Morgan Stanley gave the stock a $28 price target, which suggests 17% upside.

"We see a compelling growth story boosted by strong sector-wide fundamentals," analyst Ronald Kamdem said in a note. "Near-term focus on strategic acquisitions and opportunity to scale efficiently."

Meanwhile, JPMorgan noted Janus Living is in the right place at the right time. Near-term internal growth should be about three to four times what the firm is forecasting for the overall REIT sector, analyst Michael Mueller said.

"External growth potential is also significant, as Janus began its post-IPO life with a completely unleveraged balance sheet and $900 million+ of cash on hand (excluding restricted cash) to deploy into acquisitions," he wrote. "This combination provides a very unique setup in the overall REIT space."

His $26 price target implies the stock can rally 8% from Monday's close.

— Michelle Fox

These are the stocks moving the most in midday trading:

• CarMax — The online marketplace for autos plunged 15%. Fourth-quarter adjusted earnings of 34 cents per share and revenue of $5.95 billion surpassed analysts' estimates, but reflected declines from the year-ago period.
• BlackRock — The asset management giant climbed 4% on first-quarter earnings and revenue that beat the Street.
• Novo Nordisk — U.S.-listed shares popped 3% after the company announced a partnership with OpenAI.

Read the full list of stocks moving here.

— Fred Imbert and Lisa Kailai Han

The market may have officially reached its bottom for the Iran war.

"We're seeing divergences. We're seeing a rotation back into the pro-cyclical parts of the market," Mike Wilson, chief investment officer and chief U.S. equity strategist at Morgan Stanley, said on CNBC's "Squawk Box," adding that those moves signal that "things are going to resolve constructively in the second half of this year." He continued, "The lows are in."

He also believes "we're seeing the worst of" consumer sentiment data right now. Last week, a University of Michigan survey showed that consumer confidence reached a record low in April.

"[The ratio of the S&P 500 to gold] has been plummeting over the last several years in line with that consumer confidence, and ironically, the day that the [Iran] war started, that bottomed and turned up sharply," he said. "That's a lead indicator to me that maybe things are actually looking a little bit better over the next six months or so."

— Sean Conlon

JPMorgan's strong first-quarter results reinforced its positioning as a growth stock, according to top analyst Mike Mayo, who said the bank's earnings beat was largely in line with expectations but underscored broad-based momentum.

The Wells Fargo analyst pointed to higher investment spending driving revenue gains across all three major divisions, with the corporate and investment bank delivering a 19% jump to record markets revenue, while consumer and community banking rose 7% and asset and wealth management climbed 11%.

Mayo said credit conditions remain "stronger for longer," noting an absence of deterioration so far, while a change in net interest income guidance was viewed as "a non-factor" to the overall outlook.

Shares of JPMorgan Chase are rated overweight with a $350 price target at Wells Fargo.

— Yun Li

A second round of negotiations between the U.S. and Iran is currently under discussion, though nothing has been officially scheduled yet, a White House official told CNBC on Tuesday.

The confirmation that the Trump administration is mulling further talks with Tehran followed reporting that the peace negotiations, which stalled out days earlier, could restart before a fragile two-week ceasefire is set to expire. Read more.

— Kevin Breuninger

Citadel CEO Ken Griffin said Tuesday that the global economy is headed toward a recession if the Strait of Hormuz stays shut for much longer.

"Let's assume [the Strait is] shut down for the next six to 12 months — the world's going to end up in a recession," Griffin said on stage at the Semafor World Economy conference in Washington, DC. "There's no way to avoid that."

To be sure, the hedge fund leader thinks the consequences of the war would have been worse if the U.S. delayed any strikes until Iran's military capabilities had grown.

Read more here.

— Sarah Min

Shares of Viking gained roughly 3% Tuesday following an upgrade to buy at Rothschild & Co, which cited secular demand drivers, as well as the company's best-in-class revenue visibility and strong cash generation.

The firm's new valuation work shows that on normalized free cash flow, the river cruise company's multiple is at a less than 30% premium to Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings and Carnival, and at a 25% discount to Royal Caribbean.

Yet Viking's capacity growth will notably exceed that of its ocean cruise liner counterparts, analyst Alex Brignall said in a note Tuesday.

"Put simply, the geopolitical disruption, and its derivative impacts on the oil price and demand concerns, has offered an opportunity to buy into a high-quality business at a fair valuation," he wrote. "While the travel market is undoubtably cyclical, Viking benefits from far higher visibility than other cruise lines, which in turn have higher visibility than any other consumer travel segment."

Shares of Viking are up more than 12% year to date.

— Michelle Fox

The iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) rose to a new all-time intraday high on Tuesday.

The fund's rise was led by gains in stocks such as Credo Technology and Marvell Technology. SOXX was last up 0.2%.

— Sean Conlon and Gina Francolla

The three leading U.S. indexes began Tuesday's session in the green.

The S&P 500 rose 0.3%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 41 points, or 0.1%. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.7%.

— Sean Conlon

The Iran war could end up costing U.S. taxpayers far more than official figures suggest, according to the analysis of one Harvard academic.

The first 6 days of the the joint U.S.-Israeli operation against the Islamic Republic, beginning February 28, racked up costs of $11.3 billion, according to the Pentagon's briefing to Congress.

While a fragile ceasefire is still in place, efforts to reach a lasting settlement have so far proved elusive, with U.S. forces starting a blockade of Iranian ports on Monday after peace talks over the weekend failed.

"I am certain we will reach $1 trillion for the Iran war." said Professor Linda Bilmes, public policy expert at the Harvard Kennedy School, in an internal interview. Read more.

— Joseph Wilkins

Producer prices rose in March but considerably less than expected as the Iran war's push on energy prices rekindled fears of another inflation burst.

The producer price index, a gauge of pipeline costs for final demand goods and services, increased a seasonally adjusted 0.5% for the month, well below the Dow Jones consensus estimate for 1.1%, according to a Bureau of Labor Statistics report Tuesday.

Excluding food and energy, core PPI was up just 0.1% against the forecast for 0.5%. Read more.

— Jeff Cox

Shares of Citigroup rose more than 1% in premarket trading Tuesday after the firm's first-quarter results beat Wall Street expectations.

Citigroup earned $3.06 per share on revenue of $24.63 billion, while analysts surveyed by LSEG had estimated $2.65 in earnings per share and $23.55 billion in revenue for the quarter.

— Leslie Picker and Sean Conlon

Bitcoin maintained its upward momentum Tuesday morning with the price climbing above $74,000 to its highest level in nearly a month, driven by a more than $200 million short squeeze. Bitcoin was last higher by 1.8%. The bitcoin proxy Strategy gained nearly 3% in premarket trading.

Meanwhile, ether jumped 5% to more than $2,300, after more than $114 million in ETH shorts got liquidated. ETH treasury companies Bitmine and Sharplink rose 4% each in early trading.

On Monday, bitcoin ETFs collectively posted their biggest day of net outflows ($291 million) since March 6, while ether funds registered modest inflows of $9.4 million.

— Tanaya Macheel

Oil prices fell on Tuesday, as the International Energy Agency forecast that "demand destruction will spread" amid growing supply scarcity and higher average prices because of the conflict in the Middle East. Read more.

— Mike Sheen and Lee Ying Shan

Check out the companies making the biggest moves premarket:

• Novo Nordisk — U.S.-listed shares popped 3% after the company announced a partnership with OpenAI. "Integrating AI in our everyday work gives us the ability to analyse datasets at a scale that was previously impossible, identify patterns we could not see, and test hypotheses faster than ever," Novo CEO Mike Doustdar said in a statement.
• JPMorgan Chase — The banking giant posted better-than-expected first-quarter results. JPMorgan Chase earned $5.94 per share on revenue of $50.54 billion. LSEG data shows analysts had penciled in a profit of $5.45 per share on revenue of $49.17 billion. However, the stock quickly gave back an initial gain and was down 2% after it lowered its net interest income guidance.
• Wells Fargo — Shares slid 1% after the company's first-quarter results failed to impress investors. The bank earned $1.60 per share, though that number was not comparable to an LSEG estimate of $1.58 as it includes a tax benefit. Revenue, meanwhile, was just below the analyst consensus at $21.45 billion.

Read the full list here.

— Fred Imbert

U.S.-listed shares of Novo Nordisk popped 3% after the company announced a partnership with OpenAI.

"There are millions of people living with obesity and diabetes who need treatment options, and we know there are therapies still waiting to be discovered that could change their lives," said Novo CEO Mike Doustdar. "Integrating AI in our everyday work gives us the ability to analyse datasets at a scale that was previously impossible, identify patterns we could not see, and test hypotheses faster than ever."

— Fred Imbert

Asia-Pacific markets closed mostly higher Tuesday, amid hopes that a deal between Washington and Tehran was still possible even as the U.S. blockades Iranian shipments in the Strait of Hormuz.

Japan's Nikkei 225 ended Tuesday's session 2.43% higher at 57,877.39, while the Topix gained 0.87% to 3,755.27.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 ended 0.5% higher at 8,970.8. Australian business confidence in March dropped, weighed by concerns over the Iran war that has led to a global oil shock, according to a survey from National Australia Bank, Reuters reported.

Mainland China's CSI 300 index ended 1.19% higher at 4,701.28, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index gained 0.88% as of its last hour of trade.

The West Texas Intermediate was 2.80% lower at $96.31 per barrel as of 03:30 a.m. ET. Brent crude declined 1.22% to $98.14 per barrel.

— Justina Lee

Asia-Pacific markets opened higher Tuesday, amid hopes that a deal between Washington and Tehran was still possible even as the U.S. blockades Iranian shipments in the Strait of Hormuz.

Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 2.43%, while the Topix gained 1.01%.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was 0.53% higher. Australian business confidence in March dropped, weighed by concerns over the Iran war that had led to a global oil shock, according to a survey from National Australia Bank, Reuters reported.

Mainland China's CSI 300 index rose 0.65%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was 1% higher. Investors in Asia will be watching out for China trade data later in the day.

The West Texas Intermediate crude was 2.37% lower at $96.73 per barrel as of 8:00 p.m. ET. Brent crude declined 1.82% to $97.51 per barrel.

— Justina Lee

On top of any developments on the U.S.-Iran war, investors will also parse through a slew of major earnings reports Tuesday. Here are some of the names set to post results:

• JPMorgan Chase
• Johnson & Johnson
• Wells Fargo
• Citigroup

— Fred Imbert

Tech outperformed Monday to lead the broader market higher. The State Street Technology Select Sector SPDR fund (XLK) jumped around 2%, while the S&P 500 popped 1%.

However, Jose Torres of Interactive Brokers doesn't necessarily see this as a sign of a healthy equity market.

"Today's narrow stock performance features investors reaching for tech shares as weakening economic fundamentals weigh on buyer engagement in most of the other equity sectors," he said Monday. "Participants want to be shareholders of companies that can weather elevated interest rates, climbing oil prices and a cyclical slowdown. The Magnificent 7 names match these criteria."

"But with earnings season almost in full swing and assets vulnerable to Washington-Tehran headlines, the bar is high for the overall market to rally significantly, even as valuations have become more accommodative," he added.

— Fred Imbert

U.S. stock futures were little changed as trading kicked off Monday night.

S&P 500 futures added 0.06%, while Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose 10 points, or 0.02%. Nasdaq-100 futures climbed nearly 0.2%.

— Darla Mercado