New York stocks ended slightly lower across the three major indexes as concerns grew that U.S.-Iran talks over reopening the Strait of Hormuz could hit a snag and international oil prices rose.
On Aug. 10, the Dow Jones Industrial Average on the New York Stock Exchange finished at 53,975.98, down 60.95 points, or 0.11%, from the previous session. The Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 fell 4.53 points, or 0.06%, to 7,753.11, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite closed down 85.26 points, or 0.32%, at 26,605.36.
Risk appetite weakened as hopes faded that an agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz would be reached soon.
CNBC said, "Iran said a deal with Oman on reopening the Strait of Hormuz was imminent, but it is refusing direct talks with the United States while setting several conditions," and added, "Questions are growing over whether the United States and Iran can resolve the dispute in the short term."
As expectations for a deal waned, international oil prices jumped again. On the day, Brent and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures each rose 5% from the previous session.
Tom Hainlin, investment strategist at U.S. Bank Wealth Management, said, "The Iran conflict variable has been repeatedly lifting and then dragging down risk-on sentiment," and added, "Because the path back to the pre-conflict period is not at all clear, the resulting premium continues to be reflected in oil prices."
New York stocks had risen strongly until recently. The S&P 500 closed at a record high on the 7th, and last week climbed 3.6%, the biggest weekly gain since April.
Among individual stocks, Intel and Nvidia stood out on the downside. Intel fell 4.06% after saying it would undertake its first seasoned equity offering since listing, raising $15 billion (about 21.2 trillion won) to invest in artificial intelligence (AI) chips.
Nvidia also fell 2.86%. The drop came after reports that Nvidia was discussing ways to raise $500 billion (about 710 trillion won) for AI infrastructure investment together with major Wall Street financial firms, including BlackRock, Brookfield, Goldman Sachs, and KKR.
Corporate earnings are generally beating market expectations. According to market data provider LSEG, about 85% of the 436 S&P 500 companies that have released second-quarter results so far have topped market estimates.