US open: Investors playing it safe going into the weekend

citi dl canary wharf london uk banks finance wall street city — Citi HQ at Canary Wharf, London U.K.Courtesy of Citi

Shares on Wall Street were trading in mixed fashion as the uncertainty around the war between Israel and Hamas was offset by better-than-expected quarterly results out of three of the country's largest lenders.

"While stock markets haven't lost much ground this week, investors appear to be adopting a safety-first approach ahead of the weekend over concerns we could see the current ongoing build-up of tensions flare up into an escalation that involves Hezbollah or Iran, if Israel follows through on its threat to enter Gaza," said Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets UK.

As of 1622 BST, the Dow Jones Industrials was edging up by 0.20% to 33,687.95, alongside a 0.30% dip for the S&P 500 to 4,336.63.

But it was the Nasdaq Composite that was bearing the bring of the selling, trading lower by 0.96% to 13,446.05.

Crude oil was also exerting a drag with West Texas Intermediate futures jumping nearly 4% to $86.13 a barrel on NYMEX.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note however was off by seven basis points to 4.631%.

On Friday the U.S. government imposed sanctions on two oil tanker owners for transporting Russian crude at above the West's $60 oil price cap.

Linked to the above, the University of Michigan reported that its consumer confidence index slipped in October as Americans grew more concerned about inflation.

"However, long-run expected business conditions are little changed, suggesting that consumers believe the current worsening in economic conditions will not persist," the University said.

The index slipped from a reading of 68.1 in September to 63.0 for early October (consensus: 67.5).

Import price increases meanwhile undershot economists' forecasts for September.

In the company space, shares of Citigroup, J.P.Morgan and Wells Fargo were all higher by between 3-4%.

Boeing was 3% lower amid concerns that the jet-maker would have to lower its full-year guidance for 737 Max airplanes due to previously disclosed manufacturing flaws at one of its key suppliers.

Dow Jones - Risers

JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $150.23 3.03%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $534.02 1.61%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $163.70 1.53%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $162.81 1.29%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $100.28 1.04%
Walmart Inc. (WMT) $159.94 0.62%
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $24.34 0.62%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $311.67 0.59%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $144.04 0.50%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $247.36 0.48%