Updates to U.S. market open

By Stephen Culp

NEW YORK, April 23 (Reuters) - Wall Street stocks were modestly lower on Thursday and crude prices extended their climb as Iran flaunted its control over the Strait of Hormuz and investors digested a host of mixed corporate earnings reports.

All three major U.S. stock indexes were modestly lower, with the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq easing back from the latest in a recent spate of record closing highs.

Gold ticked down as the dollar was nominally higher.

Iran displayed its grip over the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday with a video of its commandos storming a cargo ship following the collapse of peace negotiations and U.S. President Donald Trump's indefinite extension of the ceasefire.

"Markets are trying to test out how far they can run, before we actually get hard evidence that the resolution, or that Iran is moving towards an actual resolution," said Ross Mayfield, investment strategy analyst at Baird in Louisville, Kentucky. "We've had this incredible rally on the promise and the directional shift towards peace, but at a certain point you need to see more hard evidence."

"We've gone from things are getting worse and evolving to things are at least getting better, at least there's talks, and then focus, more broadly, on the fundamentals," Mayfield added.

On the economic front, new claims for unemployment benefits remained muted, while S&P Global's advance PMI reading showed business activity is picking up steam this month, although output prices jumped to the highest reading since July 2022, reflecting supply chain complications arising from the Middle East conflict.

Among companies reporting first-quarter results, American Airlines AA.O and Honeywell HON.N, among others, provided disappointing guidance due to higher costs and other disruptions related to the U.S.-Iran war.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 30.02 points, or 0.06%, to 49,459.03, the S&P 500 .SPX fell 2.49 points, or 0.03%, to 7,135.41 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC fell 72.11 points, or 0.29%, to 24,586.11.

European shares were nominally higher, reversing earlier weakness as investors weighed developments in the Middle East and a wave of corporate results.

MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe .MIWD00000PUS fell 1.33 points, or 0.12%, to 1,069.98.

The pan-European STOXX 600 .STOXX index rose 0.1%, while Europe's broad FTSEurofirst 300 index .FTEU3 rose 4.52 points, or 0.18%.

Emerging market stocks .MSCIEF fell 5.99 points, or 0.37%, to 1,601.08. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS closed lower by 0.38%, to 819.56, while Japan's Nikkei .N225 fell 445.63 points, or 0.75%, to 59,140.23.

Oil prices pared earlier gains, but Brent still hovered north of $100 per barrel amid stalled U.S.-Iran talks and continued traffic restrictions through the Strait of Hormuz.

U.S. crude CLc1 rose 0.37% to $93.32 a barrel and Brent LCOc1 rose to $102.76 per barrel, up 0.8% on the day.

The dollar was essentially flat but headed for weekly gains as U.S.-Iran tensions undermined ceasefire hopes.

The dollar index =USD, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies including the yen and the euro, fell 0.03% to 98.58, with the euro EUR= up 0.05% at $1.1709.

Against the Japanese yen JPY=, the dollar weakened 0.04% to 159.42.

In cryptocurrencies, bitcoin BTC= fell 0.59% to $77,993.77. Ethereum ETH= declined 2.46% to $2,333.21.

U.S. Treasury yields inched lower in rangebound trading, as ongoing uncertainty surrounding the ceasefire continued to complicate the assessment of risk sentiment in the market.

The yield on benchmark U.S. 10-year notes US10YT=RR fell 0.6 basis points to 4.288%, from 4.294% late on Wednesday.

The 30-year bond US30YT=RR yield fell 1.2 basis points to 4.8897% from 4.902% late on Wednesday.

The 2-year note US2YT=RR yield, which typically moves in step with interest rate expectations for the Federal Reserve, was flat at 3.794%, from 3.794% late on Wednesday.

Gold prices reversed earlier gains following news of a possible extension of the Israel-Lebanon truce.

Spot gold XAU= fell 0.16% to $4,730.14 an ounce. U.S. gold futures GCc1 were flat to $4,732.40 an ounce.