US stocks hover just below records as oil slips on hopes of an Iran deal

EW YORK (AP) — The U.S. stock market is hanging just below its records Thursday as oil prices keep dropping on hopes that a deal may be nearing to allow tankers to deliver crude once again from the Persian Gulf to customers.

The price for a barrel of Brent crude oil, the international standard, fell 0.5% to $100.71, down from more than $115 early this week. It and gasoline are still much more expensive than they were before the war with Iran began, but hope is rising in financial markets as Iran said it was reviewing the latest U.S. proposals on ending their war.

On Wall Street, the S&P 500 fell 0.3% from its all-time high set the day before after a spokesperson for Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said, “We expect an agreement sooner rather than later.” Pakistan has been acting as a mediator between the United States and Iran, and the hope is that they will reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Its closure during the war has kept oil tankers trapped in the Persian Gulf and sent prices higher for crude and all kinds of products.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 285 points, or 0.6%, as of 2:09 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite fell 0.1% from its own record.

Of course, Wall Street has rallied strongly before on hopes for a coming end to the war with Iran, only to get quickly disappointed. That could happen again, and tensions are still high in the Middle East after a U.S. fighter jet shot out the rudder of an Iranian oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman Wednesday as it tried to breach the American blockade of Iran’s ports.