At 5 p.m. CET, the Dow Jones is down 0.50%, the S&P 500 is off 0.67% and the Nasdaq Composite slips 1.17%.

However, on the geopolitical front, according to comments from Iran's foreign minister, Tehran and Washington have made progress in their talks. Both  countries are said to have agreed on "guiding principles" during their second session, even though there is still work before an agreement can be reached.

In response to the announcements, oil prices fell sharply. In London, North Sea Brent is down 2.33% at $66.98, while in New York, WTI drops 2.70% to $62.03.

A few defense stocks are also logically weighed on by the progress. Lockheed Martin slips 1.20%, while General Dynamics falls 1.96%. However, some other sector players escape the decline, such as RTX, which rises 0.27%.

In company news, Mastercard (+0.53%) announced a strategic partnership with Cloudflare aimed at "developing tools to help small businesses, critical infrastructure and governments protect themselves from today's most pressing cyber threats without slowing innovation".

Meanwhile, Medtronic loses 3.34% even though the company posted diluted EPS above expectations at $1.36 for Q3 ended Jan. 23.

Snap (-3.21%) on Tuesday announced the launch of a new feature called Creator Subscriptions, designed to allow content creators to monetize their audience through paid monthly subscriptions. The initiative, being tested from Monday with a small group of creators, is part of the group's revenue diversification strategy as user growth slows and reliance on advertising remains high.

Danaher (-3.57%) on Tuesday announced the acquisition of Masimo (+34.08%), a specialist in pulse oximeters, for a total of $9.9 billion, including debt. The strategic deal reflects the US group's ambition to strengthen its medical diagnostics business, a sector where technological precision and innovation have become decisive.

Bristol Myers Squibb (-2.08%) said the US FDA has accepted a new drug application (NDA) for iberdomide combined with standard therapy in patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma (RRMM).

Mixed macroeconomic indicators

On the data front, manufacturing activity in the New York region fell less than expected in February, Tuesday's monthly survey from the regional arm of the Federal Reserve showed. The Empire State index came in at 7.1 points this month, versus expectations of 6.9 and a prior reading of +7.7 points.

By contrast, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) housing market index slipped to 36 in February from 37 in January, while analysts had been looking for a rise to 38.

Tech still struggling...

The underlying trend remains weighed down by concerns related to AI and its consequences for many companies, as well as the heavy investments some must make to stay in the race. Within the Nasdaq Composite, names such as Intel, Microsoft and Nvidia are all lower.

In currency markets, the dollar rises against the single currency (+0.38%) and trades at 0.8471 euro.

Bitcoin also moves back lower (-2.28%) and stands at $67,309.

A decline is also seen in precious metals, where an ounce of gold falls 2.53% to $4,864 and silver drops 4.41% to $73.05.