More jumps for oil prices sent tremors through the US bond market on Wednesday, along with hints that some Federal Reserve officials don't want to cut interest rates any time soon.
But fat profit reports from Starbucks and other big companies helped the US stock market remain resilient despite that.
The S&P 500 finished nearly unchanged and edged down by less than 0.1 per cent, a day after slipping from its latest all-time high.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 280 points, or 0.6 per cent, while the Nasdaq composite inched up by less than 0.1 per cent.
The action was more dramatic in the oil market, where the price for a barrel of Brent crude to be delivered in July jumped 5.8 per cent to settle at USD110.44 per barrel.
That's where most of the trading is happening in the Brent market, and it got as high as USD111.84 later in the afternoon.
The highest price since the war with Iran began is USD119.50 for the most actively traded Brent contract, reached last month.
On Wednesday, the price for a barrel of Brent crude for delivery in June, which is getting less trading action than July's contract, briefly breached that mark and got above USD120.
Oil prices have jumped this week as President Donald Trump appears willing to maintain the US blockade of Iranian ships, which is preventing the country from making money by selling oil.
Iran, in turn, is keeping the Strait of Hormuz closed to other oil tankers hoping to carry crude to customers worldwide as long as the blockade continues.
High oil prices helped push the Federal Reserve to announce Wednesday that it's continuing to hold off on cuts to interest rates.
While lower rates could give the economy a boost, they simultaneously risk worsening inflation.
Three Fed officials said they did not want to include anything suggesting more cuts may be coming in the central bank's statement announcing the decision.
Treasury yields....
