Oil prices increase on wider Middle East concerns

An oil tanker docked at the SK Innovation Co. Ulsan Complex oil refinery facilities in Ulsan, South Korea, on June 25. (SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg)

NEW YORK — The U.S. stock market is drifting near its all-time high on Aug. 10, while oil prices rise on uncertainty about when the Strait of Hormuz could reopen and get the global flow of crude going again.

Iran insisted that the U.S. meet its demands in negotiations before the Strait of Hormuz reopens. Details emerged on the potential deal between Iran and Oman on managing the Strait of Hormuz as Tehran suggested that vessels linked to “hostile countries” would be barred.

In the oil market, the price for a barrel of Brent crude rose 2% to $85.23. It had swung between $72 and $102 last month as hopes rose and fell that the United States and Iran could reach an agreement that would allow oil tankers to freely exit the Middle East again to deliver crude worldwide.

But hopes are turning toward caution again, and the price of Brent is back to where it was earlier this month, as well as in mid-July, mid-June and in the first week of the war in March.

The S&P 500 slipped 0.1%, coming off its record set on Aug. 7. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 85 points, or 0.2%, as of 9:35 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.2% lower.

Momentum is slowing for stocks following a rally bolstered by reports showing profits soared during the spring for big U.S. companies. Earnings per share for companies in the S&P 500 are on track to be 50% higher from a year earlier, according to FactSet. That would be the best growth since five years ago, when the economy was roaring out of the chasm created by COVID.

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Berkshire Hathaway is one of the latest companies to deliver a stronger profit for the last quarter than analysts expected, and the company built by legendary investor Warren Buffett said over the weekend that it’s also invested some of its massive pile of cash into stocks under its new CEO, Greg Abel.

Berkshire has been famous for buying stocks at what it considers low prices, and criticism has been high that U.S. stocks generally look too expensive. But when they report strong profits, it helps them look less pricey.

Berkshire Hathaway’s stock rose 2.1%.

Intel weighed on the market and fell 4% after saying it may sell $15 billion of its stock. Such a move would dilute the ownership stakes of existing investors, and Intel said it would likely use the cash for investments to take advantage of the huge spending underway on artificial-intelligence technology.

On the winning side of Wall Street were companies boosted by buyouts.

MarineMax jumped 45.6% after the retailer, marina operator and superyacht services provider said it agreed to sell itself for about $1.5 billion in cash to a portfolio company of Blackstone.

Varex Imaging leaped 48.2% after Teledyne Technologies said it would buy the maker of X-ray imaging components for $18.90 per share in cash.

Higher oil prices push inflation upward, and the main event for Wall Street this week will likely be the Aug. 12 update on how bad inflation was last month. Economists expect it to show inflation slowed to 3.4% from 3.5% in June.

A slowdown would mean less pressure on the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates. Higher rates would help keep a lid on inflation, but they would also slow the economy by making it more expensive for U.S. households and companies to borrow. They would also undercut prices for stocks and other investments.

A report on Aug. 7 showing unexpectedly weak hiring across the United States lowered Wall Street’s expectations for an upcoming cut to interest rates. But traders still see a 46% chance the Fed will raise its main interest rate at its next meeting in September, according to data from CME Group.

The yield on the 10-yer Treasury rose to 4.67% from 4.65% late Aug. 7.

In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed in Europe after rising in much of Asia. Japan’s Nikkei 225 jumped 2.1% for one of the world’s biggest moves.

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