NEW YORK (AP) — Oil prices are rising as the war with Iran threatens to drag on for longer, but the U.S. stock market is nevertheless holding near its record heights. The price for a barrel of Brent crude oil rose 1.7% to above $103 Monday after President Donald Trump blasted Iran’s latest proposal to end their war as totally unacceptable. The rejection keeps the two sides in an uneasy limbo, one that has already driven the price of Brent up from roughly $70 per barrel before the war. But the S&P 500 slipped just 0.1% from its record. The Dow fell 0.1%, and the Nasdaq composite sank 0.2%.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

U.S. markets hovered near all-time highs Monday and oil rose more than 2% after President Donald Trump appeared to dismiss Iran's response to a U.S. peace plan.

Futures for the S&P 500 were essentially unchanged, while futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average ticked down 0.1%. Nasdaq futures rose 0.1%.

With corporate earnings season winding down this week, rising energy prices and new U.S. inflation data will dominate the stage, along with a high-stakes summit between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Oil prices jumped early Monday after Trump wrote in a social media post that Iran’s response on Sunday to the U.S.’s latest proposal was “TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE!”

Brent crude, the international standard, gained $2.71 to $104 per barrel. It was roughly $70 per barrel before the war began in late February. Benchmark U.S. crude was $2.55 higher at $98 a barrel.

With the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway for global oil and gas transport, still largely closed and as the U.S. is continuing its sea blockade of Iranian ports, analysts believe oil prices are likely to remain higher for longer.

The Iran war will certainly be an important piece of the agenda during the Trump-Xi summit. China has close economic links with Iran and the U.S. has been pressing Beijing to leverage its influence to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

“There remains a glimmer of hope that talks between Trump and Xi later this week could yield positive results on Iran,” ING commodities analysts Warren Patterson and Ewa Manthey wrote Monday.

Source: WPLG