Stocks drift on Wall Street and crude oil prices drop as Mideast
tensions cool
[July 28, 2026] By
DAMIAN J. TROISE and ALEX VEIGA
Stocks on Wall Street drifted to a mixed close Monday as oil prices fell
after the U.S. and Iran paused their attacks while work resumed on
restarting negotiations to end the war.
The S&P 500 rose less than 0.1% after spending much of the day bouncing
between small gains and losses. The benchmark index was coming off two
weekly losses in a row. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.5%, and
the Nasdaq composite fell 0.2%, its fourth straight loss.
The three major stock indexes are on pace to close out this month in the
red. It would be the second straight monthly loss for the S&P 500 and
Nasdaq.
Oil prices reversed course from a week ago, when a sharp escalation in
fighting between the U.S. and Iran worsened worries about global oil
supplies. The price of Brent crude, the international standard, dropped
6.3% to settle at $85.87 a barrel for October delivery. Prices surged to
over $100 a barrel last week before easing.
U.S. crude oil for September delivery fell 7.5% to settle at $82.61 a
barrel.
The war between the U.S. and Iran has sharply curtailed, and at a times
halted, traffic through the vital Strait of Hormuz. That has had a
ripple effect throughout the world’s economy. Gasoline prices have
surged and shipping costs for most goods are rising, with businesses
typically passing those costs along to households.
Markets closed higher in Europe and Asia.
Bond yields fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.65% from
4.69% late Friday.
Technology companies were behind much of the shifts in the market, with
gains and declines for a mix of big companies resulting in uncertain
trading.
Nvidia fell 5% and Micron Technology slumped 2.3%. At the same time,
Microsoft rose 1.9% and Apple rose 1.2%. They are all among the most
valuable companies in the world, and those huge valuations give them
more influence over the direction of the broader market.
The mix of gains and losses from a variety of those companies had more
impact in pushing and pulling the market, even as the majority of
companies in the S&P 500 gained ground.
Communications company stocks were among the gainers Monday. Google
parent Alphabet rose 2.1%, while Charter Communications jumped 6.7% and
Comcast rose 2.3%.
Credit card issuers and payment processors also notched gains. American
Express climbed 2.8%, Capital One Financial added 2.1%, Visa rose 1.9%
and rival Mastercard gained 2.2%.
In Asia, Chinese memory chipmaker CXMT soared in its debut in Shanghai.
The company jumped to become China’s most valuable listed company with
an estimated market capitalization of 3.3 trillion yuan (nearly $490
billion).
All told, the S&P 500 added 1.20 points to 7,413.18. The Dow gained
262.83 points to 52,210.08, and the Nasdaq dropped 43.74 points to
24,932.08.
Wall Street has a busy week ahead with several potentially mark-moving
updates on the economy and company earnings. Reports are due out on
consumer confidence Tuesday and inflation on Thursday.
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A train arrives at a Wall Street subway station in New York's
Financial District on Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan, File)
 “This is a week with more than its
fair share of potential surprises, good and bad," said Chris Larkin,
managing director, trading and investing, at E-Trade from Morgan
Stanley.
The big focus will be on the Federal Reserve, which will give an
update Wednesday on its interest rate policy. The central bank has
been grappling with the impact from rising inflation because of the
ongoing U.S. war with Iran. It also has to contend with a fresh
round of U.S.-imposed tariffs globally, which could further worsen
inflation.
Wall Street anticipates a nearly 36% chance that the Fed will raise
interest rates at its meeting this week. Higher rates can help cool
inflation by making borrowing more expensive and slowing economic
growth.
The central bank has been holding rates steady throughout the year
as it monitors inflation’s direction and impact, but Wall Street
expects at least one rate hike by the end of the year.
Stubbornly high inflation has been squeezing households and fuel
costs have hit budgets and spending particularly hard. Gasoline
costs are taking a bigger chunk out of household budgets, and that
could mean tighter spending on other things like clothing and
travel.
Investors are monitoring the latest round of corporate earnings for
signs of consumer stress along with whether the yearlong jump in
stock values throughout Wall Street is justified by profits and
forecasts for profit growth.
Investors also have a heavy round of corporate earnings to review
this week. Many of those reports could provide more clues into the
health of different areas of the economy. Paint and coatings maker
Sherwin-Williams, aircraft maker Boeing and payments processor Visa
will report their latest results on Tuesday.
Starbucks and Chipotle will report results on Wednesday.
Technology companies are being watched especially closely because
their sharp gains throughout the year have been behind Wall Street's
record run. Microsoft will report results Wednesday. Amazon, with
its growing cloud services business and AI focus, will report
results on Thursday, along with Apple.
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AP Business Writer Elaine Kurtenbach contributed to this report.
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