Oil Price Volatility Keeps Wall Street Tense Ahead of Inflation Data

Wall Street is holding steady near its all-time high as oil prices continue to fluctuate due to uncertainty over the Iran war. The S&P 500 was flat and remained close to its record set on Friday, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 101 points or 0.2% by 9:35 a.m. Eastern time. The Nasdaq composite dropped 0.1%.

The price of Brent crude briefly spiked above $90 in the morning but pulled back to $87.18, down 0.6% from Monday's settlement price. This volatility has become common since the US and Israel attacked Iran in late February, causing the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and keeping much of the world's oil trapped in the Middle East.

Higher oil prices are contributing to higher inflation, which is making consumers pay more for gasoline, with the average cost rising to $4.01 a gallon. Economists expect the latest inflation data on Wednesday to show that it remains high but decelerated to 3.4% in July from 3.5% in June.

This could help the Federal Reserve, which is divided over whether to raise interest rates to combat inflation. While higher rates may slow price increases, they would also slow down the economy by making borrowing more expensive and undermining stock prices.