Oil tumbles as hopes rise for an Iran deal
Brent crude fell 7.6% to $104.77 a barrel on hopes for a US-Iran deal. The Dow rose, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq slipped as AI stocks stayed shaky.
Oil prices fell sharply on Monday as traders bet on progress toward a deal to end the war between the United States and Iran, but a sell-off in technology stocks kept most of Wall Street's major indexes from rising.
Brent crude, the international benchmark, dropped 7.6% to settle at $104.77 a barrel. Oil has swung between roughly $70 and $120 a barrel since the war began eight months ago, as fighting and the near-closure of the Strait of Hormuz disrupted shipments from the Persian Gulf.
Lower oil prices helped many stocks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose about 0.4%, and most companies in the S&P 500 gained. But the S&P 500 itself ended 0.5% lower after giving up an early gain of more than 1%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite fell 1.1%.
The drag came from artificial intelligence companies, which have been shaky for weeks amid worries that their share prices rose too far and that the huge sums being spent on AI data centers may not pay off soon enough. The losses followed a sharp sell-off in the sector last week.
Investors are also watching Tuesday's midterm elections, which could change which party controls Congress, and any sign of a breakthrough or setback in the talks with Iran.
This summary is original reporting by tehworldnews, written after checking the facts against several major international news outlets and official statements.