Financial Markets Wall Street

Oil prices fell again, which helped ease worries in the bond market and support stock prices. The S&P 500 rose 0.3% Tuesday and inched closer to its all-time high set earlier this month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.3%, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 0.7%. Brent crude's price fell 3.6% for a second decline following 13 gains in 14 days. The drop came even though tensions between the United States and Iran seemed to ratchet higher after the Trump administration announced new sanctions to further hurt Iran’s economy. Treasury yields fell in the bond market.

The U.S. stock market drifted through a quiet day of trading after a report said inflation last month was a touch worse than economists expected. The S&P 500 edged down by less than 0.1% Wednesday and remains near its all-time high set earlier this month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 0.2%, and the Nasdaq composite slipped 0.1%. Treasury yields ticked higher following the update on inflation, which has traders still mostly betting the Federal Reserve will hike the federal funds rate by the end of this year. Oil prices slipped following some more swings up and down throughout the day.

Technology stocks are leading Wall Street after Nvidia, Salesforce and others reported even fatter profits for the spring than analysts expected. The S&P 500 rose 0.4% Thursday and pulled closer to its all-time high set earlier this month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 29 points, while the Nasdaq composite climbed 1.1%. Nvidia was the strongest force pulling the market higher after the chip giant once again blew past analysts’ expectations for profit. More importantly, it gave a better-than-expected forecast for revenue growth, which helped calm worries dogging the broader AI industry. Treasury yields held relatively steady in the bond market.