Oil Rises 3%, Stocks Mixed             07/22 09:53

   The U.S. stock market is drifting in mixed trading Wednesday, while oil 
prices climb another 3% as fighting continues in the war with Iran.

   NEW YORK (AP) -- The U.S. stock market is drifting in mixed trading 
Wednesday, while oil prices climb another 3% as fighting continues in the war 
with Iran.

   The S&P 500 was virtually unchanged, coming off its best day in three weeks, 
after swinging between modest losses and gains at the start of trading. The Dow 
Jones Industrial Average was up 175 points, or 0.3%, as of 10:15 a.m. Eastern 
time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.4% lower.

   The majority of stocks in the S&P 500 was rising after more companies 
reported strong profits for the spring. Expectations are high generally, and 
companies will need to match them after their stock prices already neared 
records on anticipation for them.

   Philip Morris International rose 3.2% after the seller of Marlboro 
cigarettes reported stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than 
expected. Its shipments of smoke-free products rose 7.5%.

   AT&T climbed 3.6% after reporting a stronger profit than analysts expected. 
CEO John Stankey also said the telecom is accelerating plans to send roughly 
$10 billion to its shareholders this year through the buybacks of its stock.

   Super Micro Computer soared 21.4% after the seller of AI servers said it 
expects to report stronger profit margins for the latest quarter than it had 
earlier forecast. It, though, also said that revenue will likely come in at the 
low end of its forecasted range of $11 billion to $12.5 billion.

   They helped offset a 7.3% drop for GE Vernova, which reported a weaker 
profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected.

   Alphabet ticked 0.3% higher ahead of its earnings report, which is scheduled 
to arrive after trading ends for the day. Anticipation is high, and not just 
because the parent company of Google is one of the largest stocks on Wall 
Street. It's also one of the biggest spenders on artificial-intelligence 
technology.

   Investors are looking for signs that all the billions of dollars going into 
processors, computer memory and other building blocks of the AI boom are 
producing the kinds of productivity and profits that would make the investments 
worth if. If that isn't the case, stocks of chip companies and other AI winners 
would look very expensive following their rushes higher.

   Such worries have kept AI stocks at the center of Wall Street's swings for 
weeks.

   Micron Technology swung between a loss of 3.6% and a gain of 0.8% Wednesday 
morning. That's after it jumped 14.4% in the first two days of this week to 
reclaim nearly all its 13.3% plunge from the week before. It's still up roughly 
240% for the year so far.

   Stocks broadly also felt pressure from continuing climbs for oil prices, 
which raise costs for most businesses and eat at their profits.

   The price for a barrel of Brent crude oil, the international standard, rose 
3.1% to $93.83. That's up from less than $72 early this month, which is roughly 
where it was before the war with Iran. Early Wednesday morning, it briefly 
topped $95 per barrel to touch its highest price in nearly six weeks.

   Rising oil prices are threatening a reacceleration of inflation, just as 
increases for prices were slowing more than economists expected. That in turn 
could push the Federal Reserve and other central banks to raise interest rates, 
which would slow economies and undercut prices for stocks and other investments.

   The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.65% from 4.63% late Tuesday and 
from just 3.97% before the war with Iran began. It's already helped bring 
long-term U.S. mortgage rates to their highest levels in nearly a year.

   Oil prices have climbed as fighting across the Middle East keeps oil tankers 
from using the Strait of Hormuz to exit the Persian Gulf and delivering to 
customers. Normally, a fifth of all oil and natural gas traded in peacetime 
passes through the narrow strait.

   The auto club AAA said Wednesday that the average price for a gallon of 
regular gas in the U.S. jumped again overnight to $4.06. That's still below 
highs of around $4.56 per gallon in May, but it had been below $3 before the 
United States and Israel attacked Iran in late February.

   In stock markets abroad, indexes climbed in Europe following a mixed session 
in Asia.

   London's FTSE 100 rose 1.6%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 1% for two of 
the world's bigger moves.

   ___

   AP Business Writers Yuri Kageyama and Matt Ott contributed to this report.

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