US stocks edge lower as oil prices return to rising
By STAN CHOE Associated Press Business Writer NEW YORK AP U S stocks are nudging lower on Tuesday and oil prices are rising again It s a modest return to form for financial markets after worries had seemed to calm on Wall Street Monday The S P was down in morning trading following signals that one of the U S financial market s main engines spending by households is weakening while Israel s conflict with Iran may be worsening The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down points or as of a m Eastern time and the Nasdaq composite was lower Treasury yields also edged lower in the bond field after a description announced shoppers spent less last month at U S retailers than the month before and than economists expected Solid such spending has been one of the linchpins keeping the economic activity out of a recession but part of May s drop may have completely been a return to more normal trends Related Articles Disgraced former Sen Bob Menendez arrives at prison to begin serving his -year bribery sentence Kraft Heinz pulling certain artificial dyes from its US products in Americans turn cautious and retail sales slide after a spring spending surge to beat tariffs Appeals court in San Francisco to hear arguments in National Guard deployment in Los Angeles Purgatory Fed functionaries left in limbo as tariffs complicate this week s rate decision In April selected shoppers had rushed to buy automobiles to get ahead of President Donald Trump s tariffs At present s content suggests consumers are downshifting but they haven t yet slammed the brakes according to Ellen Zentner chief economic strategist for Morgan Stanley Wealth Management Trump meanwhile left a Group of Seven summit early and warned that people in Iran s capital should evacuate right now It took only about eight hours for Trump to go from suggesting a nuclear deal with Iran remained achievable to urging Tehran s million residents to flee for their lives Israel s continuing fight with Iran has the feasible to drive up prices for crude oil and gasoline because Iran is a major producer of oil and it also sits on the narrow Strait of Hormuz through which much of the world s crude passes Crude prices climbed in their latest see-saw move after leaping roughly on Friday and then calming on Monday with hopes that the fighting could remain relatively contained A barrel of benchmark U S crude rose to Brent crude the international standard added to per barrel Often higher oil prices will help stocks of companies in the solar industry because they increase the incentive to switch to alternative capacity sources But solar stocks tumbled amid worries that Congress may phase out tax credits for solar wind and other power sources that produce fewer emissions that change the Earth s conditions Enphase Potency dropped and First Solar fell On the winning side of Wall Street was Jabil which jumped after reporting a stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected CEO Mike Dastoor credited strength from accelerated demand related to artificial-intelligence system among other things Verve Therapeutics soared after Eli Lilly explained it would buy the company advancing genetic medicines for cardiovascular malady in a deal that could be worth up to billion if certain conditions are met Lilly s stock slipped All of the action was taking place as the Federal Reserve got set to begin a two-day meeting on interest rates The nearly unanimous expectation among traders and economists is that the Fed will make no move The Fed has been hesitant to lower interest rates and it s been on hold this year after cutting at the end of last year because it s waiting to see how much Trump s tariffs will hurt the market and raise inflation Inflation has remained relatively tame in recent weeks and it s near the Fed s target of More significant for financial markets on Wednesday will likely be the latest set of forecasts that Fed leaders will publish for where they see the economic activity and interest rates heading in upcoming years In the bond domain the yield on the -year Treasury fell to from late Monday The two-year yield which more closely tracks expectations for what the Fed will do with its overnight interest rate edged down to from In stock markets abroad indexes fell across much of Europe after finishing mixed in Asia Tokyo s Nikkei index rose after the Bank of Japan opted to keep its key interest rate unchanged It s been gradually raising its rate from near zero and cutting back on its purchases of Japanese establishment bonds to help counter inflation AP Business Writer Elaine Kurtenbach contributed
