US stocks near record high, oil falls as Trump claims Iran talks under way

Benchmark S&P500 approaches all-time peak as Washington, Tehran offer conflicting accounts of status of talks.Published On 4 Aug 20264 Aug 2026The US stock market has surged to the cusp of its all-time high amid conflicting signals about the status of negotiations on ending the war on Iran.The S&P500 climbed 1.5 percent on Monday, leaving the benchmark index just shy of its closing record of 7,620.90 set on June 2.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Petrol prices strain US households as oil giants Chevron, Exxon profits soarlist 2 of 4Death toll from Venezuela earthquakes passes 6,000list 3 of 4Two workers who died in quake-hit Japan mall were sent in to get cashlist 4 of 4Trump administration sued by 25 states over new tariffs on trading partnersend of listThe tech-focused Nasdaq Composite jumped 2.1 percent, closing 4.3 percent below its all-time peak of 27,093.90, also set on June 2.The narrower Dow Jones Industrial Average, which tracks 30 blue-chip companies, rose 1.3 percent to hit a record high of 53,178.41.“Magnificent Seven” tech giants were at the forefront of the rally, with all apart from Apple making substantial gains.Facebook parent company Meta Plat...