US energy stocks fall as Iran peace talks drag crude prices lower

The move is a clean read-through from geopolitics to earnings: energy equities are trading as a proxy for crude, so any credible de-escalation in the Middle East hits the sector before it shows up in fundamentals. The outsized Brent and WTI declines against the index's more modest fall suggest investors are not fully pricing a durable supply normalization. The open question is whether the talks produce concrete supply relief or remain headline risk, which would keep energy shares hostage to every diplomatic signal.