NEW YORK (AP) — Oil prices fell again on Tuesday, which helped ease worries in the bond market and support stock prices. The S&P 500 rose 0.3% and edged a bit closer to its all-time high set earlier this month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 160 points, or 0.3%, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 0.7%.
Brent crude falls as Pakistan delegation visits Iran
Some of the strongest action was in the oil market, where the price for a barrel of Brent crude fell 3.6% to $87.27 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. Brent’s price zigzagged between $72 and $102 last month as hopes rose and fell that the United States and Iran could reach a deal that would allow oil tankers to freely exit the Persian Gulf again. A delegation from Pakistan left Iran Tuesday after talks with Iran’s president on reopening the Strait of Hormuz and reviving negotiations to end the Iran-U.S. conflict, the Pakistani military said. Pakistan Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said a meeting with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian had been very positive and productive.
Tuesday’s drop in oil prices reined in worries about high inflation, which had helped drive Treasury yields higher in the bond market through the summer. Treasury Department announced a surprise move last week to increase its repurchases of longer-term Treasury notes and bonds. High yields make borrowing more expensive for everyone and can slow the economy’s growth while undercutting prices for stocks, cryptocurrencies and other investments. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.63% from 4.70% late Monday and from 4.74% at the end of last week. That’s a significant move for the bond market, though the 10-year yield remains firmly above its 3.97% level from before the war with Iran sent oil prices and worries about inflation much higher.
AP AUDIO: Falling oil prices help calm the stock and bond markets Falling oil prices are helping calm the stock and bond markets in early morning trading. On Wall Street, Nvidia and other winners of the boom in artificial-intelligence technology helped lead the way. Nvidia rose 2.2%, a day after its drop of 2.9% was the heaviest weight on the S&P 500. AI stocks have veered up and down through the summer on worries that their prices shot too high and that the AI boom may not be sustainable if it doesn’t produce enough profits for companies. Nvidia will report its latest quarterly results on Wednesday, which could help steer the next move for AI-related sto
The US stock market traded lower on Monday, 24 August, as a retreat in technology and chip stocks, escalating tensions in the Middle East and persistent pressure from elevated long-dated US bond yields kept investor sentiment fragile. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures slipped marginally by 11 points, while futures tied to the S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 fell 0.1% and 0.5%, respectively. In the previous week, US stocks went through a roller-coaster ride as surging bond yields fuelled concerns about the health of the economy, pushing the 30-year US Treasury yield to 5.3%, its highest level in nearly 20 years. Investors grew increasingly concerned that the US-Iran war could continue for longer, keeping oil prices elevated and potentially driving inflation higher. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent did announce measures to help stabilise the long end of the US yield curve, but the reprieve proved short-lived.
Higher bond yields can slow the economy and undermine valuations across various asset classes. Investors are also awaiting comments from Kevin Warsh regarding interest rates and other policy issues in a key speech at the annual gathering of US economic leaders in Jackson Hole later this week. The Federal Reserve has been struggling to bring inflation back to its 2% target. Inflation has crept higher after the US imposed a wide range of tariffs globally and has climbed further as the Iran war disrupted global oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz. Investors will get an important inflation update on Wednesday when the US releases its July report on personal consumption expenditures, or PCE, the Federal Reserve’s preferred measure of inflation. Much like the consumer price index, the PCE data has shown that US consumer inflation remains stubbornly above 3%.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announces financial offensive against Iran
Also Read | US-Iran War: Pakistan’s Asim Munir arrives in Tehran days after Trump call Also Read | Iran’s rial hits record low of 2.02-mn against US Dollar US prepares ‘single greatest financial offensive’ against Iran The US will unveil the single greatest financial offensive ever
against Iran on Monday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said. Writing in the Financial Times, Bessent said Washington was launching the single greatest financial offensive marshalled against an adversary
, describing it as an “economic D-Day”. The measures will target Tehran and could also ensnare countries that continue to deal with the Islamic Republic, potentially including China. Washington aims to increase economic pressure on Iran and push Tehran towards negotiations over the conflict, its nuclear programme and control of the Strait of Hormuz.
D-Wave Quantum surges following Nasdaq debut and AT&T agreement
D-Wave Quantum(NASDAQ:QBTS), a quantum computing systems and services provider, closed at $19.51, up 20.36%. An expanded agreement with AT&T(NYSE:T) and the stock’s Nasdaq listing debut drove the move. Investors will now be watching the next earnings report. Trading volume reached 47.2 million shares, coming in about 54% above its three-month average of 30.6 million shares. D-Wave Quantum IPO’d in 2020 and has grown 92% since going public.
How the markets moved today S&P 500(SNPINDEX:^GSPC) rose 0.02% to 7,413, while the Nasdaq Composite(NASDAQINDEX:^IXIC) fell 0.18% to 24,932. In quantum computing systems, software, and services, IonQ(NYSE:IONQ) closed at $35.91, up 9.35%, and Rigetti Computing(NASDAQ:RGTI) closed at $15.64, up 10.53%, as investors reacted to D-Wave’s expanded AT&T deal and Nasdaq listing.
What this means for investors D-Wave transferred its listing from the New York Stock Exchange to Nasdaq, with trading beginning today. While that could add a market-related tailwind from publicity and potentially improved liquidity, it isn’t the main reason for the stock’s 20% move. The stock jumped after it announced that AT&T has agreed to expand its use of D-Wave’s quantum computing technology, with the intention of employing it to tackle complex optimization problems in its network operations. The news reinforced that there is demand for commercial applications of its quantum technology, helping investors gain confidence that D-Wave and its quantum computing peers will have paths to successfully monetize it.
