Stocks near record as oil eases on Iran talks hopes

U.S. stocks edged toward an all-time high as hopes rose for renewed US-Iran talks while oil prices softened and Treasury yields slipped.

U.S. stocks rallied near all-time high Tuesday, and oil prices eased as hopes climbed that the United States and Iran may try again on talks to end their war and avoid a worst-case scenario for the global economy.

The S&P 500 added 1.2% to its leap from the day before and the index at the heart of many 401(k) accounts is just 0.2% below its record set in January. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 317 points (0.7%) and the Nasdaq composite climbed 2%.

Stock markets worldwide rose as diplomats arranged new US-Iran talks via back channels, easing fears of prolonged war. If successful, attention shifts to corporate profits, which drove gains pre-war and are projected to grow over 12% for S&P 500 companies last quarter. Brent crude fell 4.6% to $94.79, aiding business costs despite remaining above pre-war levels.

BlackRock gained 3%, Citigroup rose 2.6% after the financial companies reported stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter. Amazon climbed 3.8% after saying it would buy Globalstar, a mobile satellite services company, for $90 per share in either cash or Amazon stock. Globalstar jumped 9.6%.

Software companies also rallied for a second day, recovering more of their sharp losses from earlier in the year on worries they could be made obsolete by artificial-intelligence technology. AppLovin rose 3.9%, and an ETF from iShares tracking the software industry added 1%. Blue Owl Capital rose 8.5% to trim its loss for the year so far below 39%. Ares Management climbed 5.6%, and Apollo Global Management rose 4.4%. They helped offset a 5.7% drop for Wells Fargo, which reported weaker revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected.

In stock markets abroad, indexes rose across much of Europe and Asia. South Korea?s Kospi jumped 2.7%, and Japan?s Nikkei 225 rose 2.4% for two of the bigger gains. The U.K.?s FTSE 100 index is seen opening 0.12% higher, with Germany?s DAX slightly lower, France?s CAC 40 down 0.13% and Italy?s FTSE MIB marginally higher, according to data from IG. It follows more positive sentiment in Asia-Pacific and U.S. markets overnight, with oil prices falling amid rising hopes of a diplomatic solution to the Middle East conflict.

In the bond market, Treasury yields eased as the fall for oil prices took some of the pressure off inflation. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.25% from 4.30% late Monday. The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note ? the benchmark for government borrowing ? dropped more than 4 basis points to 4.25%. The 2-year Treasury note yield, more sensitive to short-term Federal Reserve interest rate decisions, was down more than 3 basis points to 3.74%. The longer-dated 30-year Treasury bond yield also declined more than 3 basis points to 4.86%.