US stocks hang near their record as Wall Street takes a breath following two big days
By STAN CHOE
AP Business Writer
NEW YORK — U.S. stocks are hanging near their all-time high on Wednesday as financial markets catch 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 was mostly unchanged in afternoon trading and sitting just 0.9% below its all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 121 points, or 0.3%, as of 12:52 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.2% higher.
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 2.2% to $65.79 per barrel, though it still remains below where it was before the fighting between Israel and Iran broke out nearly two weeks ago.
A fragile ceasefire between the two countries appears to be holding, at least for the moment.
On Wall Street, companies involved in the cryptocurrency industry rose as the price of bitcoin continued to steam ahead with investors willing to take on more risk. Coinbase Global, the crypto exchange, climbed 1.2%, and Robinhood Markets gained 0.4% as bitcoin topped $107,000.
QuantumScape jumped 31.5% after announcing a breakthrough in its process for making solid-state batteries. Solid state battery technology promises to improve electric vehicle range, decrease charging times and minimize the risk of battery fires. But they are expensive to research and difficult to manufacture at a large scale, giving them a reputation for being a Holy Grail for battery engineers all over the world.
They helped offset a 2% drop for FedEx. It reported stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected, but it gave a forecast for profit in the current quarter that fell short of expectations.
General Mills, the company behind Pillsbury and Progresso soups, fell 4.1% after reporting weaker revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected, though its profit topped forecasts. It also said an underlying measure of profits could fall by 10% to 15% this upcoming fiscal year.
In the bond market, Treasury yields were holding relatively steady, and the yield