New York — The US stock market remains relatively stable at the moment, after sharp ups and downs since the war with Iran began and sent oil prices soaring. S&The P 500 index was flat in early trading Tuesday, a day after it turned from a sharp early loss to a strong gain. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 34 points, and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.2%. Trading was also relatively quiet in the oil market, which has been the focus of action due to concerns about the potential for long-term disruptions in the Middle East’s energy industry.
This is a breaking news update. The previous AP story follows below.
Trading stabilized early Tuesday and crude oil prices fell after sharp swings this week as investors tried to figure out how long the rally would last. War with Iran will continue.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose 0.2% before the opening bell, while S&P futures rose 0.2% before the opening bell.&P 500 futures rose 0.1%. Nasdaq futures rose 0.2%.
On Monday, markets turned from huge losses to end the day with gains, while oil prices edged closer $120 per barrel Before falling to about $90. Oil prices fell further early Tuesday.
To help calm investors’ fears, US President Donald Trump told CBS News on Monday that he believes “the war is completely over, pretty much.” However, Trump also made other somewhat contradictory comments that appeared to threaten intensified action against Iran if it made any “attempt to cut off the world’s oil supply.”
On Tuesday, Iran launched new attacks on Israel and Arab Gulf countries Pressure on the Middle East In the war that Israel and the United States started 10 days ago, which was sent Oil prices are rising.
The price of standard US crude fell $5.44 to $89.33 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, fell $6.97 to $91.99 a barrel. Oil prices are still high by about 34% since the start of the war.
The average price of a gallon of gas in the United States continued to rise, rising to $3.54, according to the AAA Auto Club on Tuesday. This average was just under $3 per gallon in the days before the conflict began, and $3.11 last week.
There is a great deal of uncertainty about how high oil prices will be and how long they will remain due to disruptions to energy facilities in the Middle East.
If oil prices remain too high for too long, household budgets already strained by high inflation could collapse under these pressures. Companies will see their own bills rise for fuel and for storing items on their store shelves or in their data warehouses.
Concerns were focused on Strait of HormuzIt is a narrow waterway located off the Iranian coast, through which a fifth of the world’s oil passes on a normal day. Iran threatened to set fire to ships sailing in the strait.
Global stocks rebounded Tuesday from sharp declines the day before.
The French CAC 40 index rose 2.1% in early trading, while the German DAX index rose 2.5%. The British FTSE 100 index rose 1.7%.
In Asia, the Tokyo Nikkei 225 added 2.9% to close at 54,248.39 after the government released revised economic data that showed Japan’s economy grew slightly faster than initially estimated in the fourth quarter of last year, supported by strong business investments.
The Japanese economy expanded at an annual rate of 1.3%. The initial estimate was much weaker at 0.2%.
“Today is the recovery, and obviously with the positive comments from President Trump overnight, we are starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel of war,” said Neil Newman, managing director and head of strategy at Japanese consultancy Astris.
“So the volatility will still be with us, but things are definitely looking brighter today,” he said.
Australia S&The P/ASX 200 rose 1.1% to 8,692.60. South Korea’s Kospi index jumped 5.4% to 5,532.59.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 2.2% to 25,959.90, while the Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.7% to 4,123.14.
South Korea’s Kospi, where highly volatile trading caused power outages last week, including Monday, rose more than 5% on Tuesday.
In currency trading, the US dollar rose to 157.78 Japanese yen from 157.67 yen. The euro was trading at $1.1646, up from $1.1636.
___
AP videographer Ayaka McGill in Tokyo contributed.