By Noel Randewich
(Reuters) - Wall Street remained in negative territory on Tuesday while energy stocks cut earlier losses after U.S. President Donald Trump said the United States would quit the Iran nuclear deal, confirming what many investors had expected.
In a televised speech, Trump said the United States would withdraw from a 2015 international agreement designed to deny Tehran the ability to build nuclear weapons, and also reinstate sanctions on Iran.
The S&P energy sector (SPNY) trimmed earlier losses to trade down 0.1 percent.
Major stock indexes recovered but then fell again to levels prior to Trump's speech.
At 2:32 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) was down 0.34 percent at 24,273.85 points, while the S&P 500 (SPX) had lost 0.38 percent to 2,662.39.
The Nasdaq Composite (IXIC) dropped 0.27 percent to 7,245.33.