US Stocks, Oil Prices Flip-Flop        04/06 15:10

   The U.S. stock market is making only hesitant moves Monday, while oil prices 
are flip-flopping ahead of a deadline that President Donald Trump has set to 
bomb Iranian power plants.

   NEW YORK (AP) -- The U.S. stock market is making only hesitant moves Monday, 
while oil prices are flip-flopping ahead of a deadline that President Donald 
Trump has set to bomb Iranian power plants.

   The S&P 500 rose 0.4%, coming off its first winning week in the last six. 
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 109 points, or 0.2%, with an hour 
remaining in trading, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.5% higher.

   Oil prices likewise seesawed between gains and losses amid continued 
uncertainty about what will happen in the war with Iran and how long it will 
slow the global flow of oil and natural gas. Iran on Monday rejected the latest 
ceasefire proposal and instead said it wants a permanent end to the war, though 
the talks may not have collapsed.

   "We won't merely accept a ceasefire," Mojtaba Ferdousi Pour, head of the 
Iranian diplomatic mission in Cairo, told The Associated Press. "We only accept 
an end of the war with guarantees that we won't be attacked again."

   Fighting is continuing, meanwhile, including an Israeli attack on an Iranian 
petrochemical plant. And in the background is the clock ticking toward a 
deadline, which Trump has moved multiple times, where he has threatened to 
attack Iran's infrastructure if it does not open the Strait of Hormuz. A fifth 
of the world's oil typically sails through the strait during peacetime.

   "Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in 
Iran," Trump said on his social media network over the weekend, threatening 
Iranian leaders that "you'll be living in Hell - JUST WATCH!"

   Monday also offered the first chance for U.S. stock prices to react to a 
report from Friday that said U.S. employers hired more workers last month than 
economists expected. The unemployment rate unexpectedly improved.

   They're encouraging signals for an economy that's had to absorb painful 
leaps in costs for gasoline since the war's beginning. The average price for a 
gallon of regular gasoline is nearly $4.12 across the country, according to 
AAA. It was below $3 a couple days before the United States and Israel launched 
attacks to begin the war in late February.

   For countries that don't produce as much oil as the United States, the pain 
has been even worse. That's because they are more reliant on oil coming from 
the Middle East, and the war has blocked in much of the crude produced in the 
Persian Gulf area. That oil typically gets to customers around the world by 
exiting the Strait of Hormuz.

   The price for a barrel of benchmark U.S. crude rose 0.8% to settle at 
$112.41 after erasing an earlier modest dip. Brent crude, the international 
standard, added 0.8% to $109.77 per barrel and remains well above its roughly 
$70 price from before the war.

   On Wall Street, a split performance for the Big Tech stocks that are the 
U.S. market's most influential kept things in check. Apple rose 1.3%, and 
Amazon added 1.2%. Tesla slid 2.6%, and Microsoft fell 0.3%.

   Bank stocks were some of the market's strongest, including a 1.5% rise for 
JPMorgan Chase.

   CEO Jamie Dimon said in his annual letter to shareholders released on Monday 
that the U.S. economy continues to be resilient, and businesses still look 
healthy. He, though, also acknowledged that prices for stocks and other assets 
are high, which could imply "anything less than positive outcomes could have a 
dramatic impact on global markets."

   In the bond market, Treasury yields held relatively steady. The 10-year 
Treasury yield was sitting at 4.33%. That's still well above its 3.97% level 
from before the war. The rise has pushed up rates for mortgages and other loans 
going to U.S. households and businesses, which slows the economy.

   A mixed report on Monday said that finance, transportation and other U.S. 
businesses in services sectors grew in March for a 21st straight month of 
expansion. But the growth was slightly slower than economists expected, and a 
measure of prices accelerated at its fastest pace since 2022 in a potentially 
discouraging signal for inflation.

   In stock markets abroad, Japan's Nikkei 225 added 0.5%, and South Korea's 
Kospi jumped 1.4%. Many other markets in Europe and Asia were closed for 
holidays.