Oil prices decline on continuing tension with Iran

A driver refuels a vehicle in San Marcos, Texas. (Joel Angel Juarez/Bloomberg)

NEW YORK — The U.S. stock market is drifting Aug. 26 after a report said inflation was a touch worse last month than economists expected. The data sent yields a bit higher in the bond market, home to some of Wall Street's biggest recent worries, even as oil prices eased some more.

The oil market is down as tensions have grown after the Trump administration announced new sanctions this week aimed at inflicting more pain on Iran’s economy.

The price for a barrel of Brent crude, the international standard, fell 0.7% to $86.66. That's down from a little more than $94 at the end of last week. It’s been swinging sharply on uncertainty about when the war with Iran will allow oil tankers to freely exit the Persian Gulf again.

Top diplomats of Iran and Oman met Aug. 25 to discuss a phased approach to managing ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. The talks followed an attack off Oman's coast that disabled an oil tanker, underscoring dangers for shipping companies attempting to use the waterway while it’s under Iranian control.

A delegation from Pakistan also held talks with Iran’s president on reviving negotiations to end the Iran-U.S. conflict, the Pakistani military said. Pakistan's Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said a meeting with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian had been “very positive and productive.”

The S&P 500 was virtually unchanged and remains near its all-time high set earlier this month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 113 points, or 0.2%, as of 11 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.2% lower.

In the Second World War, D-Day marked the historic beginning of a campaign with our allies to target and drive the enemy from its positions, including those in third countries. Today, in that same spirit, we are launching an economic onslaught against Iran’s financial connections… pic.twitter.com/1fLyobUucu — Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (@SecScottBessent) August 24, 2026

Stocks are making relatively few big moves ahead of an earnings report coming from its most influential company, Nvidia, after trading ends for the day. Expectations are high once again for the chip giant, whose tremendous growth in profit because of the artificial intelligence boom has made it the largest stock by value in the U.S. market.

After soaring for years, AI stocks have become shakier on worries that their prices shot too high and that demand for chips may fizzle out if AI does not produce as much profit as hoped. That has anticipation high to see what kind of forecast Nvidia gives for upcoming revenue.

Strong profit growth across U.S. companies broadly has been the main reason the U.S. stock market has run to records this year.

Abercrombie & Fitch leaped 34.9% after reporting a stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. The retailer also raised its forecast for earnings over the full year and for how much cash it will send to investors by buying back shares of its own stock.

J.M. Smucker climbed 3.3% after likewise reporting sweeter results than expected for the spring. The seller of Folgers coffee and Smucker’s jams also raised its forecast for profit over the full year.

On the losing end of Wall Street was Intuit, even though the company behind TurboTax, Credit Karma and QuickBooks topped analysts’ profit expectations in the latest quarter. It fell 3.9% after giving a forecast for profit growth of nearly 25% in its upcoming fiscal year, which fell short of analysts’ expectations.

Outside of earnings reports, Meta Platforms added 2.7% after agreeing to pay $17 billion and add child-safety measures to Facebook and Instagram to end a landmark trial over teen social media addiction and settle claims filed by states across the country.

In the bond market, which has been home recently to some of Wall Street’s strongest action, Treasury yields ticked higher following updates on inflation and economic growth.

Yields shot upward through the summer on worries about high inflation and the U.S. government’s growing and gargantuan debt, among other factors. They got so high that the U.S. Treasury Department made a surprise announcement last week to intervene in the bond market, though analysts say its effect could be limited.

The latest update on inflation released Aug. 26 said that the measure the Federal Reserve has historically preferred to use sat at 3.7% last month. That was the same rate of inflation as in June and slightly worse than the 3.6% that economists expected, according to FactSet. It remains far worse than the 2% goal the Fed has set.

Growth in spending by U.S. consumers, which is the main engine of the economy, slowed at the same time.

The overall economy grew at a 1.5% annual pace in the spring, according to a revised estimate of its performance, the same amount as the government's first estimate.

It all helped Treasury yields squiggle up and down before the 10-year Treasury yield climbed to 4.65%, up from 4.64% late Aug. 25.

Traders didn't change their forecasts much for what the Federal Reserve will do with its main interest rate in the short term, and they are betting on a nearly three-in-four chance the Fed will hike the federal funds rate at least once by the end of the year, according to data from CME Group.

In stock markets abroad, indexes rose modestly across much of Europe and Asia. South Korea's Kospi climbed 1%, and France's CAC 40 gained 0.6% for two of the bigger moves.

AP Business Writers Yuri Kageyama and Michelle Chapman contributed to this report.