Wall St Wavers as Crude Oil Prices Drop07/24 15:31

   

   NEW YORK (AP) -- Stocks drifted on Wall Street and oil prices fell for the 
first time in a week, even as heavy fighting in the Middle East again 
threatened to slow the global flow of oil. The S&P 500 rose 0.1% Friday. The 
Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.5%, and the Nasdaq composite fell 0.6%. 
All three indexes finished the week lower. After shooting to $102 a barrel a 
day earlier, Brent crude fell almost 4% to settle at $96.78 a barrel. Treasury 
yields moved lower in the bond market. European markets rose and Asian markets 
closed lower.

   THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP's earlier story follows below.

   NEW YORK (AP) -- Stocks wavered Friday as oil prices slipped for the first 
time in a week, but Wall Street is still heading for a losing week.

   The S&P 500 was mostly unchanged. The index is on track for its second 
consecutive losing week, which hasn't happened since March.

   The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 167 points, or 0.3%, as of 2:51 p.m. 
Eastern time. The Nasdaq fell 0.6% and was weighed down by sharp losses from 
several big stocks. Both indexes are also on track for weekly losses.

   Micron Technology fell 7.5% and Nvidia fell 1.1%. Both companies have large 
market values that tend to weigh more heavily on the market. They were big 
reasons for the technology-heavy Nasdaq losing more ground and for the broader 
market being kept in check despite more gainers than losers within the S&P 500.

   Wall Street is closing out a week of increasing pressure from a sharp 
escalation in the U.S. war with Iran. Heavy fighting in the Middle East again 
threatened to slow the global flow of oil and gas. Many of the buffers in the 
energy market from earlier in the year, including strategic reserves in the 
U.S., have also been weakened.

   "If escalation continues and the Strait of Hormuz remains closed, the impact 
will land on an energy market with far less resilience than in the spring," 
wrote Theodore Bunzel, head of geopolitical advisory at Lazard Asset 
Management, in a report.

   Brent crude, the international standard, fell 4.2% to $96.51. It has 
generally been rising all week and moved back above $100 on Thursday before 
easing a bit. Before the Iran war began in late February it was trading around 
$72 per barrel.

   Bond yields also eased and relieved some of the pressure on stocks. The 
yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.68% from 4.71% late Thursday.

   Markets in Europe gained ground, while Asian markets closed lower.

   The U.S. is also ramping up its global trade war with a fresh round of 
tariffs on dozens of nations. The new round of tariffs impacts nearly all U.S. 
imports and they are paid by companies importing those goods, who then 
typically pass the added costs along to consumers. That move came just as the 
clock was running out Friday on stopgap levies the president imposed after a 
stinging defeat for other tariffs at the Supreme Court.

   Rising energy prices and fresh tariffs could result in hotter inflation, 
which has been squeezing consumers and looming over the Federal Reserve's 
interest rate policy.

   The Fed meets later this month and has been closely monitoring prices and 
their impact. Rising inflation dashed hopes earlier this year for an interest 
rate cut. Wall Street has since leaned more toward a potential rate increase, 
which the central bank can use to help cool inflation.

   Wall Street is anticipating one rate hike by the end of the year, with a 
nearly 36% chance that could happen at the upcoming meeting next week, 
according to CME FedWatch.

   Higher energy costs threaten to take a bigger chunk out of household 
budgets, which means a shift in spending toward more basic needs, like 
gasoline. Nationally, a gallon of gasoline costs $4.10 per gallon, according to 
AAA. That's still lower than this spring as the conflict in Iran expanded, but 
it's almost a dollar higher than last year at this time.

   Investors are worried about the impact to companies profits. Those profits 
and expectations for more growth are what typically justifies a stock's value. 
The latest round of corporate earnings showed that companies are still notching 
growth, but concerns are growing.

   American Express fell 4.9% despite reporting a jump in profit during its 
most recent quarter. Amex maintained its profit forecast for the year and has 
been spending more heavily to keep wealthy individuals amid more competition.

   Worries about the sustainability of broader profits are on top of lingering 
concerns about AI-focused tech companies. Companies like Alphabet and Nvidia 
have been spending heavily on AI technology. Investors are increasingly 
questioning whether those investments will produce profits to justify the large 
stock values that have been steering the broader market higher throughout the 
year.

   ___

   AP Business Writers Elaine Kurtenbach and Matt Ott contributed to this 
report.

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