US equity indexes were lower on Wednesday after the situation in the Middle East worsened following attacks by the US and Iran and reports of no substantive progress in peace talks.

* The US and Iran exchanged heavy fire on Tuesday evening after the US struck an empty oil tanker it said was attempting to breach its blockade, according to The Wall Street Journal. That set off a string of attacks by both sides, with Iran striking US bases in Kuwait and Bahrain, the WSJ reported.

* No progress has been made in peace negotiations, Al Jazeera cited Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi as saying, referring to the talks between Tehran and Washington.

* ADP's monthly measure of private payrolls showed a 122,000 increase in May from a revised 105,000 expansion in the previous month, above expectations for an increase of 120,000 in a Bloomberg-compiled survey.

* The Institute for Supply Management's US services index rose to 54.5 in May from 53.6 in April, compared with expectations for 53.8 in a survey compiled by Bloomberg.

* July West Texas Intermediate crude oil rose $2.52 to settle at $96.32 per barrel, while August Brent crude, the global benchmark, was last seen up $2.03 at $98.03.

* Sandisk (SNDK) shares were up about 6.7%, the top gainer on the Nasdaq, after Morgan Stanley raised its price target to $1,750 from $1,100 while keeping an outperform rating for the company.

* Global Payments (GPN) shares were down nearly 8.3%, among the steepest decliners on the S&P 500, after Susquehanna adjusted its price target to $111 from $119 while maintaining its positive rating.