Oil prices kept swinging up and down on Wednesday. After topping $US74 during the morning, the price for a barrel of benchmark US oil dropped below $US72 before pulling back to $US73.33, up 0.1 per cent from the day before. Brent crude, the international standard, fell 0.2 per cent to $US76.32.
Trump said on Wednesday that Iran has reached out to him and that itโs not โtoo lateโ for Iran to give up its nuclear program, though he also declined to say whether the US military would strike the country.
โI may do it. I may not do it,โ he said. โI mean, nobody knows what Iโm going to do.โ
Fed chair Jerome Powell said conditions remain uncertain. Credit: Bloomberg
Oil prices have been yo-yoing for days because of rising and ebbing fears that the conflict could disrupt the global flow of crude. Not only is Iran a major producer of oil, it also sits on the narrow Strait of Hormuz, through which much of the worldโs crude passes.
On Wall Street, some alternative-energy stocks rose to recover a portion of their sharp losses from the day before, when worries flared about Congress possibly phasing out tax credits for solar and green energy sources. Enphase Energy climbed 4.1 per cent to trim its loss for the week to 20.3 per cent.
Nucor rose 3.5 per cent after the steelmaker said it expects to report growth in profit for all three of its operating groups in the second quarter. It said it benefited from higher selling prices at its sheet and plate mills, among other things.
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In the bond market, Treasury yields eased.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.36 per cent from 4.39 per cent late Tuesday. The two-year Treasury yield, which more closely tracks expectations for what the Fed will do with its overnight interest rate, dropped to 3.90 per cent from 3.94 per cent.
The moves followed a mixed set of reports on the US economy released earlier in the day. One said fewer workers applied for unemployment benefits last week, which could be an indication of fewer layoffs. But a second report said that homebuilders broke ground on fewer homes last month than economists expected. That could be a sign that higher mortgage rates are chilling the industry.
In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed across Europe and Asia.
Tokyoโs Nikkei 225 rose 0.9 per cent, and Hong Kongโs Hang Seng fell 1.1 per cent for two of the bigger moves.
AP
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