US stocks hang near their record as Wall Street takes a breath following two big days

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are hanging near their all-time high on Wednesday as financial markets catch a breath following two big days bolstered by hopes that the Israel-Iran war will not disrupt the global flow of crude oil.

The S&P 500 fell 0.1% in afternoon trading and is sitting just 0.9% below its all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 173 points, or 0.4%, as of 2:04 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.1% higher.

In the oil market, which has been the center of much of this week’s action, crude prices stabilized after plunging by roughly $10 per barrel in the last two days. Benchmark U.S. crude rose 1.5% to $65.37 per barrel, though it still remains below where it was before the fighting between Israel and Iran broke out nearly two weeks ago.

A fragile ceasefire between the two countries appears to be holding, at least for the moment.

On Wall Street, companies involved in the cryptocurrency industry rose as the price of bitcoin continued to steam ahead with investors willing to take on more risk. Coinbase Global, the crypto exchange, climbed 1.6%, and Robinhood Markets gained 0.3% as bitcoin topped $107,000.

QuantumScape jumped 33.1% after announcing a breakthrough in its process for making solid-state batteries. Solid state battery technology promises to improve electric vehicle range, decrease charging times and minimize the risk of battery fires. But they are expensive to research and difficult to manufacture at a large scale, giving them a reputation for being a Holy Grail for battery engineers all over the world.

They helped offset a 4% drop for FedEx. It reported stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected, but it gave a forecast for profit in the current quarter that fell short of expectations.

General Mills, the company behind Pillsbury and Progresso soups, fell 4.7% after reporting weaker revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected, though its profit topped forecasts. It also said an underlying measure of profits could fall by 10% to 15% this upcoming fiscal year.

In the bond market, Treasury yields were holding relatively steady, and the yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.31% from 4.30% late Tuesday.

Yields had dropped a day before after the chair of the Federal Reserve said it is waiting for the right moment to resume cutting interest rates. By lowering rates, the Fed could help give the economy a boost, but it could also offer additional fuel for inflation.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell told a House of Representatives committee on Tuesday that he wants to wait and see how President Donald Trump’s tariffs affect the economy and inflation before committing to its next move.

Powell echoed many of the same statements in testimony before a Senate committee on Wednesday and said, “For the time being, we are well positioned to wait to learn more about the likely course of the economy before considering any adjustments to our policy stance.”

In stock markets abroad, indexes fell modestly in Europe after rising across much of Asia.

Stocks jumped 1.2% in Hong Kong and 1% in Shanghai for two of the larger moves.

“The world can now move on to face other difficult choices like tariffs and things like that,” said Frances Lun, CEO of GEO Securities in Hong Kong. “So I think the market is well on its way to rebound and could again reach new levels.”

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AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.