By STAN CHOE, AP Business Writer<\/p>\n
NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 The U.S. stock market is holding near\u00a0its records<\/a>\u00a0Thursday as oil prices keep dropping on hopes that\u00a0a deal may be nearing<\/a>\u00a0to allow tankers to carry crude once again from the Persian Gulf to customers.<\/p>\n The price for a barrel of Brent crude oil, the international standard, fell another 4.5% to $96.70, down from more than $115\u00a0early this week<\/a>. It and\u00a0gasoline<\/a>\u00a0are still\u00a0much more expensive<\/a>\u00a0than they were before the war with Iran began, but hope is rising in financial markets as Iran said it was reviewing the latest U.S. proposals on ending\u00a0their war.<\/a><\/p>\n On Wall Street, the S&P 500 added 0.1% to its all-time high set the day before after a spokesperson for Pakistan\u2019s Foreign Ministry said, \u201cWe expect an agreement sooner rather than later.\u201d Pakistan has been acting as a mediator between the United States and Iran. The hope is that an end to the war will reopen the\u00a0Strait of Hormuz<\/a>, whose closure has kept oil tankers pent up in the Persian Gulf and sent prices higher for crude and\u00a0all kinds of products<\/a>\u00a0worldwide.<\/p>\n The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 176 points, or 0.4%, as of 10:30 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was adding 0.5% to its own record.<\/p>\n Of course, Wall Street has rallied strongly before on hopes for a coming end to the war with Iran, only to get quickly disappointed. That could happen again, and tensions are still high in the Middle East after a U.S. fighter jet shot out the rudder of an Iranian oil tanker in\u00a0the Gulf of Oman<\/a>\u00a0Wednesday as it tried to breach the American blockade of Iran\u2019s ports.<\/p>\n Despite all those uncertainties, a powerful parade of U.S. companies saying they made even bigger profits during the first three months of the year than analysts expected has\u00a0helped support the U.S. stock market<\/a>. Stock prices tend to follow the path of corporate profits over the long term.<\/p>\n Datadog leaped 28.6% after the monitoring and security platform for cloud applications topped analysts\u2019 expectations for profit in the latest quarter. Albemarle jumped 11.2%, and Vistra rose 2.6% after both likewise delivered better-than-expected results.<\/p>\n They helped offset a 13.1% drop for Whirlpool, which tumbled after reporting much weaker results than analysts expected. The seller of home appliances said it would raise prices by at least 10% for some of its offerings, while accelerating cuts to its costs, as it contends with weaker\u00a0confidence among U.S. consumers<\/a>.<\/p>\n Shake Shack dropped 28.8% after its results for the latest quarter fell well below analysts\u2019 expectations.<\/p>\n McDonald\u2019s held steadier and added 0.6% after its\u00a0revenue for the latest quarter edged past<\/a>\u00a0analysts\u2019 expectations. It credited a new burger and a continuing emphasis on value.<\/p>\n In the bond market, Treasury yields fell with the price of oil. The yield on the 10-year Treasury eased to 4.34% from 4.36% late Wednesday and from 4.45% at the start of the week.<\/p>\n Lower yields can bring down rates for\u00a0mortgages<\/a>\u00a0and other kinds of loans going to U.S. households and businesses, which in turn can give the economy a boost. Lower yields also tend to push upward on prices for stocks and other kinds of investments. The 10-year Treasury yield, though, remains well above its 3.97% level from just before the war.<\/p>\n