NEW YORK — U.S. stocks are holding relatively steady on Monday following the latest yo-yo moves for oil prices.
The S&P 500 ticked up by 0.2 per cent and pulled within 0.8 per cent of its all-time high set during the summer. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 103 points, or 0.2 per cent, as of 9:35 a.m. Eastern time, while the Nasdaq composite was 0.5 per cent higher and on track to set its own record.
The moves were sharper in the oil market, where the price for a barrel of Brent crude swung between US$100 and US$103 in the morning. It was most recently at US$101.83, down 0.4 per cent.
Oil prices have been shaky because of uncertainty about when the war with Iran will allow the global crude industry to return to normal. That in turn has helped push up yields in the bond market, and the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield rose to 5.30 per cent from 5.28 per cent late Friday. It’s near its highest level since 2002.
High yields can slow the economy by making it more expensive for everyone to borrow money, while also making investors feel less willing to pay high prices for stocks and other investments.
On Wall Street, a couple buyout announcements helped support stocks.
RXO jumped 23 per cent after C.H. Robinson Worldwide said it would buy the truck brokerage business in a deal where RXO investors could get US$30.25 in cash for each of their shares. C.H. Robinson fell 10.2 per cent.
PTC leaped 35.3 per cent after Schneider Electric of France said it would pay US$205 in cash for each of the software company’s shares in a deal valuing it at about US$22.6 billion.
In stock markets abroad, France’s CAC 40 fell 0.7 per cent for one of the world’s bigger losses. Worries have been rising about the French government’s big debt and its strained budget.
On the winning side of the globe was Japan, where Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 jumped 2.4 per cent on strength for technology stocks.
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Stan Choe, The Associated Press
AP Business Writers Yuri Kageyama and Michelle Chapman contributed to this report.
