NEW YORK — U.S. stocks are drifting in early trading Wednesday, and crude oil prices are continuing to rise as the world waits to see how Israel will respond to a missile attack from Iran.
The S&P 500 was 0.3% lower, a day after sliding from its record on worries about a possible widening of the fighting in the Middle East. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 105 points, or 0.2%, as of 9:35 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.3% lower.
Oil prices were up roughly 3%, and a barrel of Brent crude topped $75. They had been on a mostly downward trend since the spring on worries about weakness in demand, with Brent falling below $70 last month.
While Israel is not a major producer of oil, Iran is, and a worry is that a broadening war could affect other neighboring countries that are also integral to the flow of crude.
This week’s spurt in crude prices has helped U.S. producers of oil and gas. Exxon Mobil rose 1.6% Wednesday to bring its gain for the week to nearly 5.3%.
Elsewhere on Wall Street, Humana tumbled 21.8% after it warned a drop in its ratings for Medicare Advantage could mean a hit to its revenue in 2026. The insurer said it believes there may be errors in the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ calculations, and it is trying to challenge the ratings.
Nike sank 7.6% even though the athletic giant report stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Its revenue fell short of forecasts, and the slump shows how much work incoming CEO Elliott Hill has in making the brand cool among customers. Nike also pulled its forecast for full-year financial results and postponed its investors day conference.
Conagra Brands fell 7.8% after the company behind Duncan Hines and Reddi-wip reported weaker profit than analysts expected. It said temporary manufacturing disruptions at its Hebrew National business during prime grilling season hurt its results.
In the bond market, Treasury yields rose after a report indicated hiring by U.S. employers outside the government may have been stronger last month than expected. The report from ADP Research said private-sector employers accelerated their hiring to a pace of 143,000 from 103,000.
That could be an encouraging signal for the more comprehensive report on the U.S. job market that’s arriving on Friday from the U.S. government.
The dominant question hanging over Wall Street is whether the job market will continue to hold up after the Federal Reserve earlier kept interest rates at a two-decade high in hopes of braking on the economy enough to stamp out high inflation.
Stocks have jumped to records largely on hopes that the U.S. economy will indeed continue to grow, now that the Federal Reserve is cutting interest rates to give it more juice. The Fed last month lowered its main interest rate for the first time in more than four years, and it’s indicated it will deliver more cuts through next year.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 3.81% from 3.73% late Tuesday. The two-year yield, which more closely follows expectations for what the Fed will do with overnight interest rates, rose to 3.65% from 3.61%.
Traders are swinging their expectations for the Fed’s next move on rates to be a traditional-sized cut of a quarter of a percentage point, according to data from CME Group. Last week, more were guessing on a larger cut of half a percentage point.
In stock markets abroad, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng roared 6.2% higher, riding a wave of investor enthusiasm over recent moves by Beijing to rev up the Chinese economy. With Shanghai and other markets in China closed for a holiday, trading crowded into Hong Kong.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 lost 2.2% to continue its sharp swings, while indexes in Europe were mixed.
AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.