US stocks swing and oil prices trim their jumps amid uncertainty about the US-Iran ceasefire

NEW YORK (AP) — Financial markets are moving cautiously Thursday, a day after surging on optimism about a ceasefire in the war with Iran, and U.S. stocks are rising even though oil prices are too.

The morning began with modest losses for Wall Street, following up on slides across much of Asia and Europe. But the S&P 500 erased its dip and was up by 0.5% in midday trading after Israel said it would begin direct negotiations with Lebanon “as soon as possible.” That calmed some of the worries that the two-week ceasefire announced late Tuesday could already be in trouble because of Israel's bombardment of Lebanon.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up by 238 points, or 0.5%, as of 12:15 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.7% higher after both indexes also erased early losses.

Oil prices pared some of their gains, but they nevertheless remained higher on the day after semiofficial news agencies in Iran suggested forces have mined the Strait of Hormuz. The narrow waterway has been at the center of President Donald Trump’s demands of Iran, and blockages there have kept oil and natural gas stuck in the Persian Gulf, away from customers worldwide.

The price for a barrel of benchmark U.S. crude rose 4% to $98.18. Brent crude, the international standard, added 1.1% to $95.79 per barrel. It’s still below the $119 level that it briefly reached when worries about the war reached their height, but it remains above its roughly $70 level from before the war.

Given how far apart the United States and Iran seem to be in their demands, upward pressure on oil prices may be “here to stay for a while” according to strategists at Macquarie led by Thierry Wizman. Risks remain for renewed fighting, which could cause customers worldwide to hoard whatever oil supplies they do get. That could itself keep oil off the market, much like actual fighting targeting pipelines or oil tankers.

On Wall Street, Constellation Brands climbed 6.5% for one of the market's bigger gains after reporting stronger results for the latest quarter than analysts expected. The company, which sells Modelo beer and Robert Mondavi wines, said it saw encouraging trends heading into its new fiscal year. But it pulled its financial forecasts for the following fiscal year because of “limited near-term visibility” and other factors.

CoreWeave rallied 4.3% after announcing an expanded, $21 billion deal with Meta Platforms to provide AI cloud capacity through December 2032. Meta rose 3.8%.

On the losing end of Wall Street was Simply Good Foods, which sank 19.5% after reporting a worse drop in revenue than analysts expected. CEO Joe Scalzo called the results unsatisfactory and said the company behind the Quest and Atkins brands is making immediate changes to turn around its performance.

A suite of mixed reports on the U.S. economy also helped to keep Wall Street in check. One said an underlying measure of inflation that the Federal Reserve considers important was slightly hotter in February than economists expected. It decelerated before the war with Iran began, but not by as much as economists expected.

A separate report said that more U.S. workers applied for unemployment benefits last week than economists expected. The number was not very high compared with history, but it could indicate an acceleration in layoffs.

Treasury yields swiveled up and down in the bond market following the reports, and the yield on the 10-year Treasury edged down to 4.27% from 4.29% late Wednesday.