Oil Prices Continue to Fall on Hopes for Iran Deal

A small motorboat passes anchored vessels in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, on June 17. (Amirhosein Khorgooi/ISNA via AP)

Stocks fell on Wall Street on June 23 as a sell-off in big technology companies spread from Asia back to the U.S. over worries about potentially higher interest rates by the end of the year.

Oil prices have eased amid negotiations between the U.S. and Iran to end their war. The price for a barrel of U.S. crude fell 1.3% to $72.87. The price for a barrel of Brent crude, the international standard, fell 1.5% to $76.75. Prices are still higher from levels of roughly $70 per barrel before the war began.

READ MORE: U.S. Authorizes Sale of Iranian Oil as Part of Peace Deal

The S&P fell 1% and is coming off 11 weekly gains out of the last 12, led largely by technology stocks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which is less influenced by tech stocks, rose 91 points, or 0.2% as of 1:02 p.m. Eastern. The Nasdaq composite fell 1.5%.

Markets throughout Asia fell. South Korea's Kospi index, a big winner in the AI boom, sank 10%. Stocks in Europe also fell.

The selling largely targeted companies that have seen their values surge amid the frenzy over artificial intelligence technology. Their pricey stock values give them more influence over the broader market’s direction. On June 23, more stocks were gaining ground within the S&P 500 than falling, but tech companies were overpowering gains elsewhere.

Micron Technology slumped 11.2% and Nvidia fell 3.2%. Samsung Electronics slumped 12.3% in South Korea.

SpaceX wavered in early trading and was most recently up 6%. The space exploration and artificial intelligence company had a soaring market debut less than two weeks ago. The company plans to raise money through a bond offering, partly to fund AI development.

The growing likelihood of interest rate hikes later this year has helped deflate the massive run-up in AI-related stocks in recent days as traders worry that the higher rates could hamper economic growth.

Those Big Tech gains have been significant, sending major indexes on record-setting runs throughout 2026. Within the S&P 500, the tech sector alone is up nearly 27% just over the last three months and roughly 18% for the year. In Asia, South Korea's Kospi has nearly doubled so far in 2026, even after Tuesday's plunge.

Analysts have been warning that high-flying technology stocks could be due for a downturn.

“Viewed through this lens, a period of consolidation is reasonable, in our view, after such a sharp move higher,” wrote Brock Weimer, investment strategy analyst at Edward Jones, in a research note.

Many technology companies have been spending heavily on AI technology. The potential for higher interest rates can stifle future spending and hurt prices for investments. The Federal Reserve has signaled that it could raise interest rates at least once before the end of the year. Wall Street sees an 85% chance that the central bank will raise its benchmark interest rate this year. That's versus 60% a week earlier.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.48% from 4.51% late June 22. The yield on the 2-year Treasury fell to 4.19% from 4.24% late Monday. Bond yields remain high, though, amid worries about inflation.

Inflation has been heating up throughout the year. The impact from tariffs helped halt and reverse what had been an easing of inflation growth. The U.S. war with Iran quickly pushed energy prices higher, including gas prices. Higher energy costs have also made shipping more expensive for a wide range of goods, and that has been weighing on businesses and households. A report due June 25 of an inflation measure that is preferred by the Fed is expected to show that inflation rose to 4.1%, in May.

AP Senior Producer Mayuko Ono in Tokyo contributed to this report.