Stock Market Today: Nasdaq 100 Falls as Crude Rallies to $88 – Invesco QQQ Trust, Series 1 (NASDAQ:QQQ),

U.S. stocks traded in split fashion by midday Wednesday, with a resilient Dow and S&P 500 masking softer breadth as rising oil prices and fresh tariffs kept a lid on risk appetite ahead of the first “Magnificent Seven” earnings of the season.

Oil prices climbed as the U.S. carried out its 11th consecutive night of strikes on Iran, broadening its targets and stoking fears over the flow of crude through the Strait of Hormuz.

West Texas Intermediate crude – as tracked by the United States Oil Fund (NYSE:USO) – rose about 2.2%, trading near $88 a barrel.

The energy-driven inflation impulse rippled into rates. The 10-year Treasury yield pushed up about 2 basis points to 4.65%, while the 30-year yield climbed to 5.14%.

Traders now see roughly a 24% chance of a July rate hike and about a 69% probability of at least a quarter-point increase by September, according to CME FedWatch.

The S&P 500 added 0.2% to 7,522.54, building on Tuesday’s 0.9% advance, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose about 0.3%, or roughly 160 points, supported by industrial and materials names.

The small-cap Russell 2000 lagged, falling about 0.7% as higher yields weighed on rate-sensitive names.

Gold pushed higher on safe-haven demand, rising about 1.9% to trade near $4,150 an ounce, its highest level since July 7, as investors tracked the Middle East conflict and looked ahead to next week’s Federal Reserve meeting.

Wednesday’s Performance In Major US Indices

According to the Benzinga Pro platform:

Super Micro Computer Rallies 25%, Enterprise Software Cracks

Beneath the sector picture, the day’s biggest single-stock was Super Micro Computer Inc. (NASDAQ:SMCI) which rocketed about 26%.

The AI server maker said backlog rose to record levels, with more than $60 billion in new orders received during its fiscal fourth quarter, and guided fourth-quarter gross margin to a range of 15% to 17%, sharply above its prior 8.2% to 8.4% outlook.

Penske Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:PAG) rallied about 11% following its second-quarter results.

Among the morning’s other earnings, Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) rose about 4%.