Oil Price Drop Eases Inflation Worries, Boosts Stocks

Oil prices dropped again on Tuesday, easing worries in the bond market and supporting stock prices. The S&P 500 rose 0.3% and edged closer to its all-time high set earlier this month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 160 points, or 0.3%, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 0.7%. The price for a barrel of Brent crude fell 3.6% to $87.27, marking its second decline following 13 gains in 14 days.

The drop in oil prices also helped calm concerns about high inflation, which had driven Treasury yields higher through the summer. Yields had gotten so high that the U.S. Treasury Department announced a surprise move last week to increase its repurchases of longer-term Treasury notes and bonds.

Nvidia and other winners of the boom in artificial-intelligence technology helped lead the way on Wall Street, with Nvidia rising 2.2% after its drop of 2.9% was the heaviest weight on the S&P 500.