US stocks are mostly lower as markets digest mixed signals on Middle East peace prospects, AFP reports.

While US President Donald Trump claims Iran had approved a final deal to end the war, Iran’s comments conditioning an agreement on its ability to enrich uranium suggest a more uncertain dynamic.

“It’s very difficult to know what’s going on,” Steve Sosnick of Interactive Brokers says, pointing to numerous earlier occasions when US officials signalled an agreement that never came to pass.

About 10 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was flat at 50,858.98. The broad-based S&P 500 slipped 0.2 per cent to 7,380.09, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 0.3pc to 25,724.16.