


U.S. stocks hung near their all-time high on Wednesday as financial markets caught a breath following two big days bolstered by hopes that the Israel-Iran war will not disrupt the global flow of crude oil.
The S&P 500 barely budged after drifting through a quiet day of trading and is sitting just 0.8% below its all-time high, which was set in February. The Dow Jones industrial average dipped 106 points, or 0.2%, and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.3%.
In the oil market, which has been the center of much of this week’s action, crude prices stabilized after plunging by roughly $10 per barrel in the last two days. Benchmark U.S. crude rose 55 cents to $64.92 per barrel, though it still remains below where it was before the fighting between Israel and Iran broke out nearly two weeks ago.
On Wall Street, FedEx fell 3.3% despite reporting stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected. It gave a forecast for profit in the current quarter that fell short of expectations.
General Mills, the company behind the Pillsbury and Progresso soup brands, lost 5.1% after reporting weaker revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected, though its profit topped forecasts.
On the winning side of Wall Street, Bumble jumped 25.1% after the online dating platform said it would cut about 30% of its workforce, or 240 jobs, to save up to $40 million in annual costs.
QuantumScape rallied 30.9% after announcing a breakthrough in its process for making solid-state batteries.
Companies involved in the cryptocurrency industry, meanwhile, rose as the price of bitcoin continued to steam ahead with investors willing to take on more risk. Coinbase Global, the crypto exchange, climbed 3.1% as bitcoin topped $107,000.
All told, the S&P 500 edged down by 0.02 to 6,092.16 points. The Dow fell 106.59 to 42,982.43, and the Nasdaq composite rose 61.02 to 19,973.55.
In the bond market, Treasury yields held relatively steady, and the yield on the 10-year Treasury eased to 4.28% from 4.30% late Tuesday.
In stock markets abroad, indexes fell modestly in Europe after rising across much of Asia.
Stocks jumped 1.2% in Hong Kong and 1% in Shanghai for two of the bigger moves.
— Associated Press