Shares of energy companies ticked up as economic and interest-rate fears moderated.
Oil futures fell 2.5% to $92.52 a barrel amid the possibility of a nuclear-containment deal for Iran.
It remains unclear whether oil prices have definitively peaked, according to one strategist.
"The fact is, you just had it under 90-a-barrel and it looked like it was going to stay there, and then it popped back up," said JJ Kinahan, chief executive of IG North America, the parent company of options firm tastytrade.
Upward pressure on natural gas, heating oil, and other energy commodities, is likely to persist through the winter heating season, said Mr. Kinahan.
A mixed economic growth report could take the pressure off Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell to promise more super-sized rate hikes during his speech in Jackson Hole, Wyo., strategists said.
Chinese oil major Cnooc said first-half net profit more than doubled from a year earlier, as revenue grew strongly due to higher oil prices and stronger sales.
Write to Rob Curran at rob.curran@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
08-25-22 1654ET
