Update: Equities Fall Intraday as Oil Prices Rise on Renewed US-Iran Hostilities

01:39 PM EDT, 08/31/2026 (MT Newswires) -- (Updates with latest market prices and developments.) US benchmark equity indexes were lower intraday as hostilities resumed between the US and Iran, driving oil prices higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.6% at 53,230.7 after midday Monday, while the S&P 500 fell 0.5% to 7,676.8. The Nasdaq Composite dipped 0.4% to 26,304.6. Except energy, all sectors were in the red, led by communication services. West Texas Intermediate crude oil climbed 2.9% to $85.85 a barrel, while Brent advanced 2.8% to $90.59. The US and Iran reportedly traded strikes for the first time in a month, with American forces attacking two Iranian rocket launchers on Iran's Larak Island, multiple media outlets reported. A spokesperson for US Central Command said that the attack came as Tehran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was preparing to launch rockets with sea mines into the Strait of Hormuz, CNN reported. The attack is the first confirmed US military strike against Iran since late July and comes after Washington launched an economic campaign last week to cut off financial channels that support Iran. Iran said it retaliated by attacking US bases in Jordan and the United Arab Emirates, according to a CNN report. "These developments have once again reduced the prospects of bringing the conflict to an end," Saxo Bank said Monday in a report. "However, with an estimated (6 million to 8) million barrels per day of crude flowing through the strait, the upside risk is for now being capped." US Treasury yields were mixed intraday, with the two-year yield little changed at 4.35% while the 10-year yield rose 3.4 basis points to 4.76%. Fresh labor market data are scheduled to be released later this week, beginning with the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey for July on Tuesday, followed by August's ADP employment report on Wednesday. The Challenger, Gray & Christmas job cut and the government's nonfarm payrolls data, both for August, are due on Thursday and Friday, respectively. The odds of a quarter-point rate hike next month rose to 66% on Monday from 57% on Friday, according to the CME FedWatch tool. The probability that the Fed will keep the benchmark rate steady fell to 34% from 43%. In company news, shares of Edison International (EIX) sank 24% intraday, the worst performer on the S&P 500, followed by PG&E's (PCG) 19% slide. The state of California amended legislation to protect wildfire survivors' right to sue utilities for equipment-caused blazes, ABC7 reported Sunday. Sempra (SRE) was down 3.4%. Aon (AON) has agreed to acquire insurance brokerage USI Insurance Services from KKR (KKR) and other shareholders in an all-cash deal worth roughly $17 billion. Aon shares slumped 7.4%, among the steepest declines on the S&P 500. Nvidia (NVDA) expanded its partnership with chip designer MediaTek, including a $3.5 billion investment, to support adoption of the company's proprietary interconnect technology for custom rack-scale artificial intelligence chips. Shares of the tech bellwether were up 1.1%, among the biggest gains on Dow. Broadcom (AVGO), Palo Alto Networks (PANW), Dell Technologies (DELL) and Snowflake (SNOW) are among the companies expected to release their latest financial results this week. Spot gold declined 0.5% to $4,432.35 per troy ounce, while silver lost 1.1% to $67.04 per ounce.