Oil prices inch back toward $100 as U.S. stocks retreat from records
Oil prices rose Wednesday following the latest flare-up in fighting to threaten the U.S.-Iran ceasefire, and U.S. stocks retreated from their records. The S&P 500 fell 0.5% from its all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 466 points, or 0.9%, with an hour remaining in trading, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.8% lower. Weighing on the market was a climb of 1.9% for the price of a barrel of Brent crude oil, the international standard, which brought it back to $97.81. It rose after both the United States and Iran said they launched retaliations for earlier attacks or attempted ones. Palo Alto Networks helped drag the S&P 500 toward its first drop in 10 days, and it fell 5.8% even though it reported profit for the latest quarter that topped analysts’ expectations. Investors may have been looking for even more after its stock came into the day with a surge of 61.3% for the year so far, more than quintuple the S&P 500’s already big 11.2% rise. Macy’s slipped 0.9% after swinging between gains and losses earlier in the day. The iconic New York department store reported profit for the latest quarter that blew past analysts’ forecasts. The retailer said an overhaul of its merchandise and better customer service is resonating with customers. Stocks felt pressure from rising yields in the bond market, which climbed with the price of oil. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.49% from 4.46% late Tuesday and from just 3.97% before the war began. High yields worldwide are threatening to slow economies and undercut prices for stocks and all kinds of other investments. They have already forced the average long-term U.S. mortgage rate to its most expensive level in nine months, and they could curtail companies’ borrowing to build the artificial-intelligence data centers that have supported the U.S. economy’s growth recently. More expensive loans can hurt smaller companies in particular because many need to borrow to grow. The Russell 2000 index of the smallest U