Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq waver as oil rises and software stocks sink

US stocks wavered on Thursday after progress in US-Iran peace talks stalled and a rout for software stocks was triggered by earnings from ServiceNow and IBM .

The S&P 500 rose 0.1%, coming off another record-setting day for the broad benchmark. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell about 0.1%, while the Nasdaq Composite pared earlier losses to a decline of 0.1%.

The uncertain movement in stocks comes as oil rose for a fourth day after Iran and the US failed to meet for further peace talks, pushing Brent crude futures back above $103 per barrel. Meanwhile, West Texas Intermediate crude topped $93.

At the same time, the software sector fell throughout the morning as investors digested earnings reports from sector heavyweights ServiceNow and IBM . ServiceNow stock sank over 16% despite an upbeat earnings report, while IBM slid over 8%, as slowing revenue growth fed worries that Anthropic’s AI tools will disrupt its business.

The broader software sector dropped by roughly 5% after investors reacted negatively to the results from ServiceNow and IBM.

Investors have been looking to earnings reports to provide uplift as war-stoked inflation worries sour the mood. Tesla stock initially climbed after its earnings beat but turned lower at the opening bell on Thursday, slipping almost 3% after CEO Elon Musk signaled a massive capital expenditure push that will drag on cash flow.

Economic data updates include a preliminary S&P Global reading on April manufacturing activity. Initial jobless claims data showed the weekly employment figures ticked up slightly to 214,000.