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 42221.88 +427.28 +1.02%
SP500 S&P 500 5782.76 +70.07 +1.23%
I:COMP NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX 18439.170746 +259.19 +1.43%

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. 118.61 +3.66 +3.18%
CVX CHEVRON CORP. 153.97 +0.90 +0.59%
MRO MARATHON OIL CORP. 27.51 +0.24 +0.88%
HAL HALLIBURTON CO. 28.13 +0.45 +1.63%

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. 507.44 +0.49 +0.10%
LMT LOCKHEED MARTIN CORP. 543.10 -2.25 -0.41%

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 252.83 +0.36 +0.14%

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

Ticker Security Last Change Change %
TSLA TESLA INC. 242.84 -6.14 -2.47%

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.