Mumbai, Aug. 12 -- U.S. stocks slipped a bit further from their records Tuesday, while oil prices kept swinging on uncertainty about when the war with Iran will allow crude to flow freely again.

The S&P 500 fell 0.3% for a second modest drop since setting its all-time high on Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 184 points (0.3%) and the Nasdaq composite sank 0.6%.

The oil market price for a barrel of Brent crude briefly jumped above $90 in the morning before falling back below $87. It eventually settled at $88.91, up 1.4% from Monday. Last month alone, Brent's price veered between $72 and $102 per barrel. Higher oil prices make inflation worse and they've sent the average cost for a gallon of regular gasoline to $4.01, accor...