Treasuries Climb as US-Iran Hopes Spur Oil Decline: Markets Wrap
(Bloomberg) — Wall Street traders drove bonds higher and most stocks rose as hopes for a deal to revive the Strait of Hormuz spurred a drop in oil prices, easing worries about inflation.
US crude fell to around $81 after Pakistan signaled a potential agreement that could reduce tensions roiling energy markets. The decline in Treasury yields came on the eve of data that’s expected to show moderation in consumer price growth. While the S&P 500 was little changed, about 330 of its firms gained. Losses in a handful of megacaps weighed on the index.
Pakistan’s defense minister said the US and Iran are “close to some sort of arrangement” over Hormuz, even after both sides appeared to harden their positions in the deadlocked negotiation.
The upbeat assessments came after President Donald Trump had toughened his stance, saying Tehran should pay reparations for those killed in attacks linked to the Islamic Republic as well as in domestic protests. His comments came in response to a series of demands laid out by Iran.
“We see crude oil prices driving the war narrative, with price swings likely to dictate the pace of escalation and de-escalation,” said Elias Haddad at Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.
Wednesday’s consumer price index is likely to show a cooling of energy-related price pressures that had intensified in the months immediately following the start of the US war with Iran at the end of February.
In the wake of Friday’s weak July jobs report, the moderation in price growth may help alleviate some of the inflation anxiety at the Federal Reserve after three officials dissented on July 29 in favor of raising interest rates.
On the economic front, US small-business optimism rose in July to the highest level in almost a year as firms ramped up hiring plans and inflation pressures eased.
“A resolution to the Middle East conflict could provide an additional boost to sentiment,” said Jeffrey Roach at LPL Financial. “One particularly encouraging observation from the report’s summary was the reminder that ‘the world has plenty of oil.’ Economic conditions are favorable for risk appetite.”
Corporate Highlights:
CoreWeave Inc. shares have been on a roll lately after a monthslong slump. Now, the neocloud provider’s earnings after the close Tuesday can give investors a sense of whether the rally is sustainable. Anthropic PBC has struck a $9.1 billion deal with Riot Platforms Inc., a Bitcoin mining company that recently began selling AI data center capacity, people familiar with the matter said. On Holding AG tumbled after it posted disappointing second-quarter sales as the Swiss brand held off from discounting older shoe models ahead of product updates in the highly promotional US market. Hims & Hers Health Inc. posted a second-quarter loss that fell short of Wall Street’s estimates as its focus on selling brand-name weight-loss drugs over copycat versions has proven less profitable. Fermi Inc. jumped after the company announced its first binding lease with TensorWave Inc. for its massive data center campus under development in West Texas. Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
The S&P 500 was little changed as of 9:55 a.m. New York time The Nasdaq 100 fell 0.2% The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.4% The Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.4% The MSCI World Index was little changed Currencies
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed The euro was little changed at $1.1545 The British pound was little changed at $1.3503 The Japanese yen was little changed at 159.23 per dollar Cryptocurrencies
Bitcoin was little changed at $64,070.01 Ether rose 0.5% to $1,886.85 Bonds
The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined three basis points to 4.68% Germany’s 10-year yield declined three basis points to 3.15% Britain’s 10-year yield declined four basis points to 4.95% Commodities
West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.7% to $81.57 a barrel Spot gold was little changed ©2026 Bloomberg L.P.
