Stock market today: Oil prices climb, stocks slip as violence in Middle East rattles markets

4% lower ealy Monday in its first trading since Hamas launched a surprise attack over the weekend against Israel, which then formally declared war. The Dow fell 4 points and the Nasdaq composite was off 1%. The area under conflict is not home to major oil production, but fears that the fighting could spill into the politics around the crude market sent a barrel of U.S. oil up 3.6%. Stocks of oil and defense companies rose.

Oil prices were up more than $3 a barrel. Conflict in the Middle East often pushes oil prices higher given the risk of disruptions to supplies. Oil prices had eased back from highs of the mid $90 range last month in recent days, falling sharply last week. Early Monday, U.S. benchmark crude oil was up $3.35 at $86.14 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It picked up 48 cents on Friday.Geopolitical tensions also sent U.S. military contractors surging early Monday. Northrop Grumman and RTX each rose 3.6% while Lockheed Martin jumped 4.6%.

Tel Aviv's main stock benchmark was down 0.4%. It closed 6.5% lower Sunday, after the attacks. Early Monday, Israel’s Central Bank said it will sell up to $30 billion in foreign exchange to prop up the shekel, which fell to a near 8-year low. It also said it will provide up to $15 billion to support market liquidity.In times of war, the U.S. dollar is often sought as a safe haven, as is gold. The price of gold was up 1% early Monday at $1,863.40 per ounce.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was up 0.2% at 6,970.20. India's Sensex slipped 0.7% and in Bangkok, the SET fell 0.6%.The two-day toll from the fighting in the Middle East surpassed 1,100 dead and thousands wounded on both sides. Palestinian militant groups claimed to be holding more than 130 captives from the Israeli side. Israel's declaration of war raises the question if it would launch a ground assault into Gaza, which in past situations has resulted in heavy casualties.

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