US Equity Markets Higher as Crude Oil Prices, Bond Yields Drop After US Treasury Threatens Economic Sanctions on Iran

04:18 PM EDT, 08/25/2026 (MT Newswires) -- US equity indexes ended higher Tuesday as crude oil prices and government bond yields dropped, after the US Treasury Department started a campaign to impose economic sanctions on Iran. * The Treasury is targeting aviation, shipping, technology, gold and digital assets such as cryptocurrency to choke off Iran's economy, CNN reported. The US is also threatening new sanctions on countries that refuse to cut economic ties with Tehran. * Iran pledged to fight back against expanded US sanctions aimed at isolating its economy, expressing confidence that major trading partners would resist the pressure campaign and saying that Washington was keen to revive talks, Reuters reported. * The Conference Board's measure of consumer confidence fell to 89.4 in August from 90.2 in July, compared with expectations for no change in a survey compiled by Bloomberg. * New-home sales fell to a 607,000 annual rate in July from an upwardly revised 678,000 in June, below the 620,000 expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg, and down 6.3% from a year ago. * October West Texas Intermediate crude oil fell $3.96 to settle at $81.05 per barrel, while October Brent crude, the global benchmark, was last seen down $4.92 at $87.25. * Moderna (MRNA) shares were up roughly 14%, the top gainer on the S&P 500, after Wolfe Research upgraded the company's stock to peer perform from underperform. * Shell (SHEL) has drawn interest from potential bidders, including ExxonMobil (XOM), LyondellBasell (LYB) and Apollo Global Management (APO), for its US chemicals assets, which could fetch up to $8 billion, the Financial Times reported Monday, citing people familiar with the matter. LyondellBasell shares were down 4%, the worst performer on the S&P 500.