U.S. equities halted a three-day slide on Wednesday, trading in a narrow range
as a pause in oil’s advance eased inf worries and traders continued to reassess
the Fed’s potential rate path. The Nasdaq 100 slipped intraday after recording
its worst one-day performance in two weeks on Tuesday. Renewed U.S.-Iran
tensions over control of the Strait of Hormuz had driven an earlier oil surge
amid fears the conflict could be prolonged; U.S. crude fell back below $90/bbl
on Wednesday and U.S. Treasury yields eased. Market sentiment remained muted:
through Tuesday the S&P 500 had gone 24 trading days without a greater decline
than 1%, a calm last seen in mid-May when cooling inf data boosted bets on
resilient U.S. growth and corporate earnings.
