U.S. stocks finished lower Tuesday, with the S&P 500 falling 0.58% to 7,673.52 as investors weighed rising energy prices, renewed concerns about inflation, and weakness across the software sector. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1.18% to 52,786.07, while the Nasdaq Composite declined 0.32% to 26,421.41.

Oil prices climbed to their highest levels in weeks as fighting in the Middle East intensified. Brent crude briefly approached $100 a barrel, while U.S. crude settled at $93.03 per barrel after rising 1.7%. The increase renewed concerns that higher energy costs could put additional pressure on inflation.

The market was also pressured by declines among major software companies. Salesforce and Intuit each fell about 4%, while ServiceNow dropped roughly 5%. The S&P 500 software and services index declined 1.4% for a second consecutive session. Investors have been reassessing the outlook for established software companies amid growing concerns about the potential impact of increasingly capable artificial intelligence systems.

Technology shares were not uniformly lower. Intel gained 9%, and Qualcomm rose 3.2% after the companies announced a deal with Amazon to develop custom artificial intelligence chips, highlighting the continued investor interest in companies positioned to benefit from AI infrastructure spending.

Investors are also closely watching inflation data scheduled for release later this week. The producer price and consumer price reports will provide some of the final inflation readings available before the Federal Reserve's September 15-16 meeting and could influence expectations for interest rates.

Traders have increased their expectations for a potential rate hike following stronger-than-expected August employment data. According to the CME FedWatch tool, markets were pricing in roughly a 60% chance of an increase at next week's meeting as of Tuesday.

The broader market reflected the cautious tone. Declining stocks outnumbered advancing stocks within the S&P 500 by about 2.4 to 1, while trading volume reached 15.7 billion shares, above the 20-session average of 14.9 billion.

Despite Tuesday's decline, the S&P 500 remains up about 12% for the year. However, the combination of higher oil prices, inflation concerns, changing interest-rate expectations, and continued volatility in technology shares is keeping investors focused on the economic and geopolitical developments that could shape markets through the fall.