Stocks edged down on Wednesday as investors assess corporate earnings and developments in the Middle East.
The S&P 500 edged down 0.14%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite underperformed, dropping 0.57%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was mostly flat.
Oil prices, however, continue to rise as prospects of a ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran remain dim.
Brent crude, the international benchmark, gained 3.23% and clocked in at $93.35 per barrel at 3:51 p.m. ET, while West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark, jumped 2.75% and stood at $86.66 per barrel at the same time.
The scenario seems poised for further escalation. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that the U.S. will target a bridge or power plant every time Iran "shoots a ship in the Strait of Hormuz."
"From this point forward, any time the Islamic Republic of Iran shoots at a ship in the Strait of Hormuz, whether it be by Missile, Rocket, Drone, or any other device or weapon, the United States will bomb and destroy ONE BRIDGE OR POWER PLANT, including those located next to, or in, the Capital City of Tehran," Trump said in a social media publication.
The U.S. has already been expanding its strikes against Iranian targets over the past days, targeting bridges and energy sites, as well as well as a tower located in a key Iranian port.
The strikes appeared to seek to cut off Iran's main port, Bandar Abbas, from roads leading to the central region of Iran, as well as Tehran.
Tehran acknowledged hits to "power infrastructure" for the first time last Friday, leading the country's Energy Ministry to call on people to use less power in the country's southern provinces.
Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammed Ghalibaf reacted to Trump's publication, saying that "the war's equation is clear: all or none."
"In a region where we don't sell oil, no one will sell oil. If our security is not guaranteed, no infrastructure will be safe. The security of the strait depends on the absence of U.S. forces. We have repeatedly said that the strait's situation won't return to the way it was before the war," he added. Iran has said it will seek to control the key waterway and has been targeting ships attempting to pass without coordinating with its forces. The U.S. has been retaliating as a result.
