Stocks slide after Iranain top military leader killed by US

Stocks curbed heavy losses but end session lower.

The specter of a potential armed conflict with Iran loomed over the stock market Friday which closed with triple-digit losses but off the worst levels of the session.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average, trimmed a loss of over 300 points, to finish the session at 235.07 or 0.8 percent. The Nasdaq Composite and the S&P 500 slipped around 0.7 percent.

Ticker Security Last Change Change %
I:DJI DOW JONES AVERAGES 43937.77 +529.30 +1.22%
SP500 S&P 500 5951.18 +34.07 +0.58%
I:COMP NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX 18983.407903 +17.26 +0.09%

Oil, traditionally the most volatile commodity in times of Mideast tensions, saw upticks most of Friday. West Texas Intermediate crude closed up 3.1 percent at $63.05 a barrel. The global benchmark, March Brent crude saw similar gains with a rise of 3.6 percent and a close at $68.60 per barrel.

Energy stocks, which opened higher as a group, ended the session mixed.

Ticker Security Last Change Change %
XOM EXXON MOBIL CORP. 121.62 +1.27 +1.06%
CVX CHEVRON CORP. 162.40 +1.10 +0.68%
MRO MARATHON OIL CORP. 29.00 +0.09 +0.29%
HAL HALLIBURTON CO. 31.95 +0.74 +2.39%

It was not all bleak on the exchanges as shares of defense contractors Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin were up more than 5 percent and 4 percent respectively after the team at Citigroup noted that rising tensions in the region could validate the need for a bigger defense budget.

Ticker Security Last Change Change %
NOC NORTHROP GRUMMAN CORP. 495.82 +3.71 +0.75%
LMT LOCKHEED MARTIN CORP. 542.47 +7.58 +1.42%

As has happened in the past, investors made a flight to safety amidst rising tension, abandoning anything seen as a risky asset for long-standing safe havens, such as gold and U.S. Treasuries. The yield on the 10-Year slipped to 1.792 percent.

Ticker Security Last Change Change %
GLD SPDR GOLD SHARES TRUST - USD ACC 246.51 +1.90 +0.78%

In other corporate news, Tesla shares rose to a record after reporting that deliveries exceeded expectations.

Ticker Security Last Change Change %
TSLA TESLA INC. 344.32 +2.29 +0.67%

While concern about the Mideast remained paramount, other factors were at play for the market downturn. Minutes of the Federal Reserve’s December meeting were released. While the minutes revealed a sense of optimism regarding the economy and ease in U.S.-China trade tensions, but there were also concerns about slow growth.

To that end, Friday also saw worse-than-expected U.S. manufacturing data. The Institute for Supply Management’s manufacturing purchasing managers index fell to 47.2 percent, its lowest number in more than 10 years.