Stocks Slip, Oil Jumps Above $88 as Renewed Mideast Strikes Revive Rate-Hike Bets — August Closes Higher

US stocks fell Monday after American forces struck Iranian rocket launchers near the Strait of Hormuz — the first acknowledged US strike in the region in weeks — fueling a jump in oil prices and adding to bets the Fed will raise rates in September. Brent crude climbed roughly 2.8% back above $90/bbl intraday, while Yahoo Finance reported WTI-linked Brent futures above $88; the United States Oil Fund rose about 2.5%. The S&P 500 fell 0.33% to 7,686.14, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.70% (-374.09 points) to 53,185.90, and the Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.12% to 26,370.89, ending the Dow's five-day winning streak. Higher energy costs pushed the 10-year Treasury yield toward its highest level since January 2025. Despite the pullback, all three major indexes closed out August with solid monthly gains — the S&P 500 up about 2.5%, the Nasdaq up about 3%, and the Dow up about 1.3%, marking the Dow's fifth consecutive monthly gain and the S&P/Nasdaq's first up months since May — with both the S&P 500 and Dow having touched fresh record highs earlier in the month.