NEW YORK >> Crude prices jumped Thursday on worries that worsening tensions in the Middle East could disrupt the global flow of oil, while U.S. stocks pulled back further from their records.

The S&P 500 fell 0.2% amid a shaky week that’s knocked the index off its all-time high set on Monday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 184 points, or 0.4%, and the Nasdaq composite edged down by less than 0.1%.

All told, the S&P 500 slipped 9.60 points to 5,699.94. The Dow dropped 184.93 to 42,011.59, and the Nasdaq composite slipped 6.65 to 17,918.48.

Stocks sank as oil prices kept rising amid the world’s wait to see how Israel will respond to Iran’s missile attack from Tuesday. A barrel of Brent crude, the international standard, leaped 5% to settle at $77.62 after starting the week below $72. It’s potentially on track for its biggest weekly percentage gain in nearly two years.

Oil prices rose after President Joe Biden suggested on Thursday that U.S. and Israeli officials were discussing a possible strike by Israel against Iranian oil facilities.

“We’re in discussion of that,” Biden said to reporters. He added, “I think that would be a little — anyway,” without finishing the thought. Biden also said he doesn’t expect Israel to retaliate immediately against Iran.

Iran is a major producer of oil, and a worry is that a broadening of the fighting could not only choke off Iran’s flows to China but also affect neighboring countries that are integral to the flow of crude. Helping to keep prices in check, though, are signals that supplies of oil remain ample at the moment. Brent crude fell to its lowest price in nearly three years last month.

In the bond market, Treasury yields rose after reports suggested the U.S. economy remains solid. One showed growth for real estate, health care and other U.S. services businesses accelerated to its strongest pace since February 2023 and topped economists’ expectations, though employment trends may be slowing.

A separate report suggested the number of layoffs across the United States remains relatively low. Slightly more workers filed for unemployment benefits last week, but the number remains low compared with history.

Outside of this week’s worries about the Middle East, the dominant question hanging over Wall Street has been whether the job market will continue to hold up after the Federal Reserve earlier kept interest rates at a two-decade high. The Fed wanted to press the brake hard enough on the economy to stamp out high inflation.

Stocks are near their records because of hopes the U.S. economy will indeed continue to grow, now that the Federal Reserve is cutting interest rates to give it more juice. The Fed last month lowered its main interest rate for the first time in more than four years and indicated more cuts will arrive through next year.

China is also talking about more aid for its economy, and “when the top policymakers in the world’s two largest economies are determined to support economic growth, it pays to listen,” according to Evan Brown, head of multi-asset strategy at UBS Asset Management.