NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks held steady on Wall Street Tuesday as falling oil prices and stable Treasury yields took some pressure off the market.
The S&P 500 was mostly unchanged. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 173 points, or 0.4%, as of 10:37 a.m. Eastern time. The Nasdaq composite rose 0.2%.
The majority of stocks within the S&P 500 index lost ground, but several big technology companies helped offset those losses. Nvidia rose 0.8% and Broadcom
rose 3.3%. They are among the most valuable companies on Wall Street and those hefty market values give them greater influence over the broader market’s direction.
Stocks have been under pressure as oil prices swing sharply as the U.S. war with Iran drags on, helping to push Treasury yields to their highest levels in two decades.
The price of Brent crude oil in the most actively traded part of the oil market fell 1.5% to $96.41 a barrel. It briefly climbed above $100 on Monday before prices eased a bit, but they are still well above the roughly $72 it cost before the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran in late February.
Mediators continued to work with the United States and Iran on reaching a deal to end the fighting and open the Strait of Hormuz. U.S. President Donald Trump over the weekend rejected an offer from Tehran to reopen the key waterway.
Overall, rising oil prices have been fueling a jump in Treasury yields. Higher yields threaten to slow economic growth by making borrowing more expensive for individuals and businesses. They can also hurt prices for stocks, especially those seen as expensive, including many technology companies that have soared because of the frenzy around AI technology.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 5.25% from 5.24% late Monday, near its highest level since 2007, before the financial crisis and Great Recession sent yields toward zero.
Shares of CarMax jumped 7.2% after the used car dealership chain reported soaring second-quarter revenue and delivered profits that easily beat Wall Street expectations. The company also announced changes to its executive leadership.
Oura, the maker of wearable digital health accessories and jewelry, said Tuesday that it was postponing its initial public offering, despite strong demand, due to uncertainty in the IPO market.
Markets in Europe were mixed and markets in Asia closed mostly lower.
Wall Street will see several big economic updates this week that could help investors and the Federal Reserve get a better sense of where inflation is headed and how households and businesses are dealing with high prices.
The latest update on the jobs market Tuesday showed that U.S. employers posted fewer job openings in August. The Labor Department's monthly report said they slid to 7.08 million openings, marking a drop from July and registering below what economists had forecast. It also showed that layoffs fell and fewer people are quitting their jobs.
The jobs market has been resilient even as stubbornly high inflation squeezes businesses and households. Wall Street will get a broader update on Friday, when the U.S. releases its monthly employment report for September.
Households have been facing higher prices on everything from gasoline to clothing as the U.S. war with Iran curtails oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz. The latest update on consumer confidence from business group The Conference Board shows a slump in September. Consumer confidence dipped to its lowest level in 12 years.
Stubbornly high inflation has been sapping consumer confidence and pressuring the Fed, which recently raised its benchmark interest rate in an effort to cool prices. The latest update of the central bank's preferred measure of inflation will be released on Wednesday. Economists expect the personal consumption expenditures index, or PCE, to show that the rate of inflation rose 3.7% August, matching July's reading.
Inflation rates have remained stubbornly above 3% most of the year and that is well above the Fed's target rate of 2%. Wall Street expects the central bank to raise its benchmark interest rate again at its next meeting in October.
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Associated Press business writers Chan Ho-Him and Matt Ott contributed to this report.
