US Stock Indices Fall as Iran Talks Stall and Oil Prices Soar

The US stock indices ended lower on Wednesday as oil prices surged after the U.S. signaled that Iran was unwilling to return to negotiations. The S&P 500 fell 0.2%, while the Nasdaq 100 slipped 0.5% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average remained flat.

Brent crude prices briefly topped $95 a barrel, hitting their highest levels in over a month, while West Texas Intermediate futures climbed about 3% to close at $86.83. Secretary of State Marco Rubio noted that Iran is “not serious about talks” and emphasized the U.S. stance on protecting its interests.

Investors are growing increasingly uneasy with US-Iran war escalations and are weighing fresh earnings, artificial intelligence spending concerns, and rising oil prices. Mega-cap tech earnings are in focus, with Alphabet reporting strong Q2 earnings but dropping 5% after hiking its capex spending outlook to $205 billion.

Tesla's (TSLA) earnings also fell short of expectations, pushing the stock 4% lower after-hours. The VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) made modest gains, up 0.5%, aided by strength in Nvidia (NVDA), Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), and Broadcom (AVGO) shares.