US Stocks Slip as Oil Rises on Hormuz Watch

Core News & Key Facts

U.S. stocks opened the week on a cautious note, with major indexes slipping for a second consecutive session on Tuesday as investors monitored developments around the Strait of Hormuz. The Nasdaq Composite fell 0.3%, while the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average each declined 0.1% in recent trading.

The S&P 500 had closed at a record high last Friday before losing less than 0.1% on Monday. The Nasdaq dropped 0.3% in the previous session, while the Dow edged down 0.1%. The latest moves reflected investor caution as markets weighed energy prices, inflation risks and corporate developments.

Context & Statements

Oil prices moved higher as traders awaited news about a possible agreement to fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz for shipping. West Texas Intermediate crude, the U.S. benchmark, gained 1.1% to around $83 a barrel, while Brent crude rose 1.1% to approximately $89. The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield stood at 4.69%, below Monday’s 4.71% close, after earlier approaching 4.74% on concerns that higher energy prices could fuel inflation.

Among individual stocks, Nvidia rose less than 1% after announcing memorandums of understanding with six asset managers covering as much as $500 billion in financing for hyperscaler customers building AI data centers and purchasing its hardware. Riot Platforms climbed about 5% following reports of a roughly $9 billion, 20-year cloud agreement with Anthropic involving 191 megawatts of computing capacity.

Intel shares were little changed after the company increased a planned stock offering from $15 billion to $20 billion. The company priced roughly 210.53 million shares at $95 each, expecting proceeds of about $19.7 billion.

Impact & What’s Next

Markets are heading toward another important inflation test on Wednesday, when the latest CPI report is due. A softer July jobs report had reduced concerns about an imminent Federal Reserve rate increase, but a hotter-than-expected inflation reading could revive those worries.

Corporate earnings will also remain in focus. On Holding shares fell sharply after the company reported weaker-than-expected second-quarter sales and lowered its full-year sales growth outlook. Meanwhile, Super Micro Computer is scheduled to report earnings after Tuesday’s closing bell, with options pricing indicating potentially large swings in its stock.

Gold rose 0.4% to $4,435 an ounce, while Bitcoin traded near $63,050. The U.S. dollar index was little changed at 99.83, leaving investors focused on energy markets, inflation data and corporate results for the next major signals.