NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. stock market fell slightly from its all-time high on Monday, while oil prices rose on uncertainty over when the Strait of Hormuz could reopen and revive the global flow of crude. The S&P 500 fell 0.1% from its record set on Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 60 points, or 0.1%, and the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.3%. Momentum slowed for stocks following a rally fueled by rising profits at large U.S. companies. Reports are on track to show that earnings per share rose 50% in the spring from a year earlier for S&P 500 companies, according to FactSet. That would be the best growth since five years ago, when the economy roared out of the abyss created by COVID. Berkshire Hathaway is one of the latest companies to post stronger profits in the latest quarter than analysts expected, and the company founded by legendary investor Warren Buffett said over the weekend that it has also invested some of its massive cash pile in stocks under its new CEO, Greg Abel. Berkshire Hathaway has been famous for buying stocks at prices it considers low, and there has been much criticism that U.S. stocks in general look too expensive. But when they report strong profits, it helps them appear less expensive. Berkshire Hathaway shares rose 1.5%. AP AUDIO: U.S. stocks down from all-time highs after oil prices rise 5% U.S. stocks down from all-time highs after oil prices rise. MarineMax jumped 46.1% after the retailer, marina operator and superyacht services provider said it had agreed to sell itself for about $1.5 billion in cash to a Blackstone portfolio company. Varex Imaging jumped 48.8% after Teledyne Technologies said it would buy the maker of x-ray imaging components for $18.90 per share in cash. But Intel helped offset those gains and fell 4.1% after saying it could sell $15 billion of its shares. Such a move would dilute shareholders’ ownership stakes, and Intel said it would likely use the cash for investments that would take advantage of the huge ongoing spending on artificial intelligence technology. In total, the S&P 500 fell 4.53 points to 7,753.11. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 60.95 to 53,975.98 and the Nasdaq composite sank 85.26 to 26,605.36. In the oil market, the price of a barrel of Brent crude rose 5% to $87.72. It had swung between $72 and $102 last month as hopes rose and fell that the United States and Iran could reach a deal that would allow oil tankers to freely leave the Middle East again to deliver crude around the world. Subscribe to Morning Wire: Our flagship newsletter breaks down the day’s biggest headlines. But hopes are once again turning to caution, and the price of Brent is back to where it was at the beginning of this month, as well as in mid-July, mid-June and in the first week of the war in March. Higher oil prices push inflation higher, and the main event for Wall Street this week will likely be Wednesday’s update on how bad inflation was last month. Economists expect it to show inflation slowed to 3.4% from 3.5% in June. A slowdown would mean less pressure on the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates. Higher rates would help control inflation, but they would also slow the economy by making it more expensive for American households and businesses to borrow money. They would also undermine stock prices and other investments. A report on Friday showing unexpectedly weak hiring across the United States lowered Wall Street’s expectations for an upcoming interest rate hike. But traders still see a nearly 52% chance that the Federal Reserve will raise its main interest rate at its next meeting in September, according to CME Group data. The 10-year Treasury yield rose to 4.70% from 4.65% late Friday. This represents an increase from 3.97% before the war with Iran, and the increase has already significantly raised rates on mortgages and other types of loans. In foreign stock markets, indices were mixed in Europe after rising in much of Asia. Japan’s Nikkei 225 jumped 2.1% in one of the world’s biggest moves.___AP business writers Michelle Chapman and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed to this report.
