US stocks and oil prices flip-flop ahead of Trump's deadline to bomb Iranian power plants

Oil prices seesawed between gains and losses amid continued uncertainty about what will happen in the war with Iran and how long it will slow the global flow of oil and natural gas. Fighting is continuing, including an Israeli attack on an Iranian petrochemical plant, while mediators scramble to get the United States and Iran to agree to a new ceasefire proposal.

Trump has threatened to attack Iranian infrastructure if it does not open the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil typically sails, by Monday night, Washington time. “Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran,” Trump said on his social media network over the weekend, threatening Iranian leaders that “you’ll be living in Hell - JUST WATCH!”

Monday also offered the first chance for U.S. stocks to move after a report on Friday said that U.S. employers hired more workers last month than economists expected. The unemployment rate unexpectedly improved.

They’re encouraging signals for an economy that’s had to absorb painful leaps in costs for gasoline since the war’s beginning. The average price for a gallon of regular gasoline is nearly $4.12 across the country, according to AAA. It was below $3 a couple days before the United States and Israel launched attacks to begin the war in late February.

For countries that don’t produce as much oil as the United States, the pain has been even worse. That’s because they are more reliant on oil coming from the Middle East, and the war has blocked in much of the crude produced in the Persian Gulf area. That oil typically gets to customers worldwide by exiting the Strait of Hormuz.

The price for a barrel of benchmark U.S. crude rose 0.9% to $112.53 after erasing an earlier modest dip. Brent crude, the international standard, added 0.1% to $109.11 per barrel and remains well above its roughly $70 price from before the war.

A report on Monday also said that finance, transportation and other U.S. businesses in services sectors grew in March for a 21st straight month of expansion. But the growth was slightly slower than economists expected, and a measure of prices accelerated at its fastest pace since 2022 in a potentially discouraging signal for inflation.

In the bond market, Treasury yields held relatively steady. The 10-year Treasury yield was sitting at 4.35%, where it was Friday. It remains well above its 3.97% level from before the war.

That rise has pushed up rates for mortgages and other loans going to U.S. households and businesses, slowing the economy.

On Wall Street, a split performance for the Big Tech stocks that are the U.S. market's most influential kept things in check. Apple rose 1.2%, and Amazon added 1%, but Microsoft fell 0.4%, while Nvidia slid 0.8%. The majority of stocks within the S&P 500 fell.

In stock markets abroad, Japan’s Nikkei 225 added 0.5%, and South Korea’s Kospi jumped 1.4%. Many other markets in Europe and Asia were closed for holidays.

AP Business Writers Yuri Kageyama and Matt Ott contributed.