Oil prices flat over Strait of Hormuz stalemate

A person sits on a swing looking out toward ships anchored in the Strait of Hormuz off the coast of Bandar Abbas, Iran, on Aug. 10. (Getty Images/Getty Images Europe via Bloomberg)

NEW YORK — Wall Street is flirting with a record Aug. 12 after several AI stocks reported better growth for the spring than analysts expected, while a report showed inflation across the United States was slightly less bad last month.

Oil prices are essentially flat Aug. 12 but sharply higher this week with the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the global oil supply runs, effectively shut down as fighting in Iran continues.

The price of a barrel of Brent crude, the international standard, fell 0.1% to $88.84 on Aug. 12. 

U.S. gasoline prices edged 2 cents higher overnight to a national average of $4.04 per gallon, according to motor club AAA. That's 16 cents higher than at this point last month.

President Donald Trump said he would seek compensation from Iran for the conflict after Tehran said it would seek payments from the U.S. before it opens the strait.

Meanwhile an attack by Iran-backed Houthi rebels on a vessel in the Bab el-Mandeb strait at Yemen's southern tip has raised concerns that the violence could reignite civil war and further threaten regional shipping routes.

BREAKING: The national average price of gasoline has risen back above $4/gal for the third time in the same calendar year, a new record. — Patrick De Haan (@GasBuddyGuy) August 12, 2026

“The renewed hostilities between the U.S. and Iran suggest that a long-term reduction in shipping through the Strait of Hormuz is now the most likely scenario,” said Ben May, director of global macro research at Oxford Economics.

The S&P 500 added 0.3% and was on track for its first gain since setting its all-time high on Aug. 7. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 65 points, or 0.1%, as of 9:35 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.6% higher.

Stocks in the artificial intelligence technology business helped lead the way after strong profit reports bolstered hopes they can continue to deliver big-enough growth to justify the huge gains their prices have made.

Super Micro Computer, which sells servers and other equipment, jumped 13.7% after reporting earnings per share for the latest quarter that were 84% higher than analysts expected. It also gave forecasts for upcoming profit and revenue that topped analysts’ expectations.

CoreWeave, which offers AI computing power to customers over the cloud, leaped 20.3% after reporting better revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected, along with a milder loss. CEO Michael Intrator said demand is accelerating from customers as big businesses adopt AI.

CoreWeave gives its customers access to AI chips from Nvidia, and Nvidia climbed 2% to act as the single strongest forces lifting the S&P 500.

It’s a return to strength for AI stocks, which have been veering on a roller-coaster ride for months. After surging to records, AI stocks came under pressure on worries that they shot too high. Investors wanted to see big spenders on AI prove that their investments are yielding better profits to make them worth it. That in turn could lead to continued demand for chips and other building blocks of AI data centers.

Wall Street also got some broad support from easing yields in the bond market. Treasury yields fell after a report showed that U.S. consumers paid prices for gasoline, groceries and other costs of living last month that were 3.4% higher than a year earlier.

That’s higher than anyone would like, but it’s not as bad as the 3.5% inflation rate of June.

The deceleration could give the Federal Reserve more leeway to hold off on hikes to interest rates. Higher rates would help keep a lid on inflation, but it would do so by making it more expensive for U.S. households and companies to borrow and forcing a slowdown in the economy. Higher interest rates also would undercut prices for stocks and other investments.

The Fed’s members have been notably split about whether they should have already begun hiking interest rates. But the Aug. 12 update on inflation pushed traders to pull back on bets the Fed will hike its main interest rate at its next meeting in September.

Traders are betting on just a 36% chance of it, down from the coin flip’s chance seen the day before, according to data from CME Group.

That helped pull the yield on the 10-year Treasury down to 4.65% from 4.70% late Aug. 11. It, though, still remains well above its 3.97% level from before the war with Iran, which sent oil prices and worries about inflation spiking.

In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed across Europe and Asia.

South Korea’s Kospi jumped 3.7% for one of the world’s bigger gains. It’s been at the center of the jarring swings for AI stocks because it’s dominated by two tech giants, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix.

AP Business Writers Michelle Chapman and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed to this report.