US stock indexes drift lower as Walmart swings and oil prices rise

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stock indexes are drifting lower on Thursday, while oil prices rise with worries about a potential conflict between the United States and Iran.

The S&P 500 fell 0.4% and was potentially heading for its first loss in four days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 283 points, or 0.6%, as of noon Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.4% lower.

Booking Holdings dropped 7.1% for one of the market's sharper losses, even though the company behind the Booking.com, Priceline and OpenTable brands reported a profit for the latest quarter that edged past analysts’ expectations.

Its stock has been under pressure because of worries that competitors powered by artificial-intelligence technology could upend its industry and take away customers at some point. It's lost roughly a quarter of its value so far this year already.

Such worries have been rolling through the U.S. stock market, hitting industries as far flung as software and legal services and trucking logistics. Investors have been punishing stocks of companies seen as under threat by AI so suddenly and aggressively that analysts have likened it to a “shoot first-ask questions later” mentality.

Carvana sank 9.4% despite also reporting a stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Investors may have been paying more attention to how much profit the auto retailer made per vehicle sold, which was lower than expected.

Walmart, meanwhile, pushed and pulled on the market after erasing an early gain of 2.7% and swinging to a modest loss. The retail giant delivered stronger results for the latest quarter than analysts expected, but it gave a profit forecast for the upcoming year that fell short of estimates. It was most recently back to a gain of 0.3%.

Helping to limit the market's losses was Deere, which jumped 12.1% after the machinery maker reported a higher profit than analysts expected. CEO John May said it's seeing a continued recovery in demand from construction and smaller agricultural customers, though its global, large agricultural customers are still feeling pressure.

Some of the bigger gains in the S&P 500 came from stocks of oil companies, which climbed with the price of crude. A barrel of benchmark U.S. crude rose 2.6% to $66.71, while Brent crude added 2.2% to $71.88.

Prices rose with worries about a possible military confrontation between the United States and Iran. President Donald Trump has been raising the pressure on Iran, which is home to some of the world’s largest oil reserves, because of its disputed nuclear program. If a conflict were to break out, it could constrict the global flow of oil.

Occidental Petroleum jumped 8.2% after it also reported a stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected.

In the bond market, Treasury yields held relatively steady after a report said the number of U.S. workers applying for unemployment benefits eased last week. That could be a signal that the pace of layoffs is slowing.

A solid job market, in turn, could keep the Federal Reserve on hold for longer before it resumes its cuts to interest rates. Fed officials said at their last meeting that they want to see inflation fall further before they would support cutting rates further this year.

If oil prices keep rising, that would push upward on inflation.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury edged down to 4.08% from 4.09% late Wednesday.

Other U.S. economic reports said that growth for manufacturing in the mid-Atlantic region is accelerating, but potential homebuyers across the country didn't sign as many contracts in January to purchase. The U.S. trade deficit also widened in December by more than economists expected.

In stock markets abroad, indexes fell in Europe following better performances in Asia.

South Korea’s Kospi jumped 3.1% as trading resumed following a Lunar New Year holiday. Markets in Hong Kong and Shanghai remained closed.

AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.

Traders Joseph Lawler, left, and Niall Pawa, center, and Drew Cohen work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Traders Dylan Halvorsan, left, and Drew Cohen work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Friday, Feb. 13, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

A chart above the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange displays an intraday number for the SPY, tracking the S&P 500, Friday, Feb. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Trader William Lawrence works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Friday, Feb. 13, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Currency traders watch monitors near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), left, at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters, in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

A TV camera man stands near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), center, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won, left, at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters, in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Currency traders work near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), top center, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won, top center left, at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Sitting in the stands at a hockey game, Michael Black heard what he thought was popping balloons before quickly realizing it was gunfire. As dozens of people rushed out of the Rhode Island arena, Black told his wife to “run, run” and then lunged toward the shooter's handgun.

Black managed to get his left hand caught in the chamber of Robert Dorgan's gun, jamming it and then briefly attempted to hold Dorgan down. But Dorgan, a former bodybuilder, hoisted Black into the air before at least two other bystanders rushed over to subdue the shooter. One of them could be seen on video putting Dorgan into a choke hold.

Dorgan fell to the ground, with Black on top of him. The shooter died from a self-inflicted gunshot after pulling out a second gun as the two locked eyes. Black never heard Dorgan say a word.

“The first thought was the safety of my wife. And the second thought was, because the bullets were coming out, was to focus in on the gun,” Black said. “Get the gun and then subdue the shooter.”

Pawtucket police have said the shooter behind the deadly ice rink tragedy on Monday was Robert Dorgan, who also went by Roberta Esposito and Roberta Dorgano.

Dorgan's ex-wife Rhonda Dorgan and adult son Aidan Dorgan were killed in the shooting, and three others were injured: Rhonda Dorgan’s parents, Linda and Gerald Dorgan; and a family friend, Thomas Geruso, all of whom remained in critical condition Wednesday.

Pawtucket police say the group of “courageous citizens” who rushed to intervene in the attack “undoubtedly prevented further injury and increased the chances of survival for the injured.” Along with Black, Robert Rattenni, and Ryan Cordeiro are being credited as subduing the suspect. Separately, Chris Librizzi and Glenn Narodowy, both retired Rhode Island firefighters and EMTs, and nurse Maryann Rattenni provided first aid in the immediate aftermath.

“I look at it as being fortunate, saddened tremendously in the loss, but fortunate that a small group of people could make a difference,” Black said in a Zoom interview Thursday from South Carolina where he was on a college visit with his son.

Authorities have not directly said that Dorgan was transgender and have said questions around Dorgan’s gender identity are not relevant to their investigation surrounding the case.

However, court records from Dorgan’s past show that gender identity was at least one of the contributing factors to Dorgan’s wife filing for divorce in 2020 after nearly 30 years of marriage. Dorgan's X account mentions being transgender and sharing far-right ideologies.

Black said Dorgan was walking down rows of seats determined to shoot more people. As he pinned the shooter's head with his knee, Black said he noticed Dorgan had additional magazines holding “quite a few bullets."

With Dorgan dead, other bystanders rushed to provide treatment for the five people who had been shot and were lying between the bleachers. Blood was everywhere. Police arrived within minutes and, Black with his injured hand, was escorted outside in the parking lot where he reunited with his wife.

“My wife saw me and she ran underneath the yellow tape, kind of grabbed me from behind, and we gave a big hug,” Black said. “She said, ‘I heard you helped with the shooter. And she says, what’s all the blood? I said, ’I got my hand caught in the gun.' And then she said, ‘Honey, I don’t know whether I should be proud of you, but I’m pissed off at you for putting yourself in that situation.’”

As he was sitting in the hospital getting treatment on his injured hand, Black recalled a nurse calling him a hero — a label that has repeatedly been applied to all three bystanders in recent days.

“I said I don’t feel like I’m a hero right now,” Black said. “I looked up and I was feeling for the family. So I started getting some tears in my eyes. And then she got tears in her eyes, too. It was just a moment of decompression at that point.”

Casey reported from Boston.

Police continue to tape off the Dennis M. Lynch arena a day after a deadly shooting during a youth hockey game on Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026 in Pawtucket, R.I. (AP Photo/Rodrique Ngowi)

Police and ATF agents stand near the Lynch Arena in Pawtucket, R.I., after a shooting at the ice rink, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell)

Police congregate near the Lynch Arena in Pawtucket, R.I., after a shooting occurred at the ice rink, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell)

In this image taken from video, Michael Black, a Rhode Island man who helped stop a shooter at a high school hockey game on Monday, gestures during an interview with The Associated Press, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026 in Spartanburg, S.C. (AP Photo)

In this image taken from video, Michael Black, a Rhode Island man who helped stop a shooter at a high school hockey game on Monday, holds up his injured hand during an interview with The Associated Press, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026 in Spartanburg, S.C. (AP Photo)