US equity indexes retreated in midday trading on Monday as investors weighed military action in the Strait of Hormuz, the chokepoint for about a fifth of global crude oil flows.

The Nasdaq Composite fell 0.7% to 24,946.4, the S&P 500 slid 0.7% to 7,182.2, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 1.1% to 48,952.7. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq touched record highs last week.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures jumped 3.7% to $105.70, and Brent crude futures jumped 5.6% to $114.21.

Military tensions were fanning up in Hormuz on Monday, as several vessels were struck amid Iranian threats and the US sent in destroyers and fought off further attacks, The Wall Street Journal reported. The skirmishes followed President Donald Trump's initiative to get ships bottled up in the Persian Gulf out through the crucial waterway, the Journal said.

Meanwhile, US Central Command denied Iran's claim that a US warship transiting the Strait of Hormuz was struck by two missiles and forced to retreat, CNBC reported. Separately, the US military said two American-flagged merchant ships transited the Strait of Hormuz, according to the Associated Press.

Iran's unified command told commercial ships and oil tankers to refrain from any movement that was not coordinated with Iran's military, according to Reuters.

Most US Treasury yields rose, with the 10-year up 8.2 basis points to 4.46%, the highest in more than a month on an intraday basis. Two-year yield jumped 10.5 basis points to 3.99%.