US stocks pared losses Thursday as reports of progress between US and Iranian negotiators reduced concerns about energy-market disruption in the Strait of Hormuz. The S&P 500, Dow and Nasdaq 100 traded near the flatline as the prospect of restored tanker flows helped ease fuel prices and yields on shorter-dated maturities. AI hyperscalers recovered from losses earlier in the week, with Alphabet rising 1.5% and Meta jumping 4%, extending its weekly rally to 16% after positive feedback on its AI agent software and gadget releases. Chipmakers remained under pressure amid concerns over tight financial conditions and heavy debt issuance to fund AI infrastructure, with Nvidia, Intel, Marvell and Micron down as much as 3%. Oracle fell 4.5% after declaring force majeure over setbacks in developing a data center in New Mexico.