Newscasts - Trading at Noon: Wall St slides as Middle East tensions intensify, oil jumps

Click the following link to watch video: https://share.newscasts.refinitiv.com/link?entryId=1_ijgkhdr8&referenceId=1_ijgkhdr8&pageId=Newscasts Source: 'Reuters - Business videos' Description: Wall Street's main indexes slid on Tuesday as investors turned risk-averse following reports of geopolitical tensions escalating in the Middle East, while also assessing data that pointed to a stable labor market. Oil prices turned positive to climb about 3% following the Iran reports. Short Link: https://refini.tv/3Y6IXAA Video Transcript: Wall Street slides as Middle East tensions intensify. Welcome to Trading at Noon. I'm David Pollard. In the first trading day of the new quarter, US stocks slipped today ahead of multiple jobs surveys this week and held their losses after the first to be released of those surveys. Also undermining sentiment, reports say the US has indications Iran is preparing to launch ballistic missile attacks on Israel, that's according to a senior White House official who said the US is helping Israel prepare its defenses and that a direct military attack would carry severe consequences for Iran. Defense stocks rose on the news, with Lockheed Martin up around 2.5%, followed by RTX, Northrop Grumman, and General Dynamics. Immediately after the reports, oil prices also turned positive, jumping 3% with Brent trading at around $73.74. Gold prices jumped 1% on safe haven demand helped too, as lower US bond yields pushed back prices to near last week's record highs. Treasury yields had firmed after Jerome Powell signaled on Monday that he and fellow policymakers are in no hurry to cut rates, at least not in large increments, along with Iran focus for bond market has turned to data showing US manufacturing remained at weaker levels in September, with the ISM PMI unchanged at 47.2%. It was the sixth month of a reading below the 50 level that denotes growth. Prices paid for input declined to a nine-month low, but new orders improved from 44.6% to 46.1%. As for today's jobs data, the JOLTS report for August showed job openings rose unexpectedly to 8.04 million in August, but hiring was soft and consistent with a slowing labor market. Traders are now pricing in a 64.6% probability of a 25 basis points cut at the November FOMC compared with over 60% before the data sets. One analyst says that with inflation easing and a softening economy, there are plenty of reasons for the Fed to cut, including debt. I think the worrying thing for all central banks is not so much personal debt, but corporate debt. Because the longer these rates stay up, the more corporates have got to roll their bonds over at higher rates. And the more that is going to basically feed through to defaults. Finally, dockworkers on the US East Coast and Gulf Coast have begun their first large scale stoppage in nearly 50 years. It's thought the strike could cost the economy an estimated $5 billion a day. The dispute centers around pay and issues over moves to automate container terminals. The International Longshoremen's Association, which represents some 45,000 workers, says it has shut down all port from Maine to Texas. And that is Trading at Noon.