Wall Street Edges Closer to Record High After Oil Prices Ease

Wall Street is on the cusp of its all-time high after stocks rallied globally following an easing in oil prices and bond yields. The S&P 500 jumped 1.5% to 7,764.70, within 0.4% of its record set last month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 366 points, or 0.7%, to 52,048.83.

The price for a barrel of Brent oil fell 3.4% to $100.34, down from the nearly $110 it touched last week but still much higher than its roughly $72 price from earlier this summer. Morgan Stanley's Michael Wilson says another leg higher in prices for oil, gasoline, and other refined products is the main near-term risk he sees that could keep the U.S. stock market from rising to his forecasted target for the year's end.

The average price for a gallon of regular gasoline across the United States has climbed to nearly $4.48, according to AAA. The yield on the 10-year Treasury eased to 4.95% from 5.01% late Friday after crossing above the 5% threshold last week for the first time since 2023.

Oil prices have been swinging up and down as some crude from the Middle East is able to sail through the Strait of Hormuz to get to customers, though nowhere near as much as the industry would like because of the war with Iran. Meanwhile, stocks in the artificial-intelligence industry led the way, with Advanced Micro Devices rallying 9.9% and Nvidia adding 2.3%.