S&P 500 cuts losses despite rising geopolitical tensions amid Israel-Hamas war

Investing.com -- The S&P 500 climbed Monday, after cutting losses despite rising geopolitical tensions amid fears the Israel-Hamas conflict could spark a wider war in the Middle East.  

The S&P 500 rose 0.6%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.5%, 162 points, Nasdaq rose 0.4%.

Escalating Israel-Hamas conflict fuels jitters

Following the surprise Hamas’ attack on Israel, and subsequent declaration of war by Israel, geopolitical tensions in the Middle-East dominated investor attention and briefly kept a lid on their appetite for risk.

The escalating conflict comes just as optimism was building that the U.S. was inching closer to brokering a deal that would normalize ties between Saudi Arabia and Israel, potentially paving the way to the end of the Arab-Israeli conflict.    

“The Saudi leadership has insisted on Israel making significant concessions to the Palestinians as part of any normalization agreement and given what has transpired, it is very difficult to envision a government that is now on war footing to agreeing to such terms,” RBC said in a note.

Chevron leads energy stocks higher as Israel orders shutdown of energy field

Chevron Corp (NYSE:CVX) rose more than 3% after announcing that Israel government ordered the oil major to shutdown natural gas production at the Tamar platform in the Mediterranean amid safety concerns.  

The move higher in energy stocks was also supported by rising oil prices on fears of disruptions in the oil-rich Middle East amid rising geopolitical tensions.

Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL), Marathon Oil Corporation (NYSE:MRO) and Hess Corporation (NYSE:HES) were among the biggest gainers in the energy sector.

U.S. airlines down after halting Israel flights

Delta Air Lines Inc (NYSE:DAL), United Airlines Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:UAL) and American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL) were down sharply after cancelling flights to Israel.

“It is not prudent or appropriate to knowingly put our flight crews and passengers in harm’s way by maintaining flights into a war zone,” American Airlines Union President Ed Sicher said.

Intel slips as plans as Israel-Gaza war threatens plan for chip making factory in Israel; Nvidia slips after scrapping AI summit

Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) was marginally lower after cutting losses despite concerns that the conflict could hurt the chipmaker’s plan to build a new chip-making plant in Israel weighed on sentiment.

Earlier this year, Intel agreed to investment about $25 billion to build a a new chop factor factory in Israel, expected to open by 2027.

NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) cancelled its AI summit slated for Oct. 15-16 in Tel Aviv, Israel. 

Tesla slips on sales slump in China as rival BYD shines

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) traded less than 1% lower as the electric vehicle maker’s grip in China appears to be waning after data from the China Passenger Car Association showed it sales slipped 10.9% in China in September from the same period a year earlier.

Chinese EV maker and Tesla competitor BYD Co (SZ:002594) Ltd-H (OTC:BYDDF), meanwhile, saw its sales jump 42.8% to 286,903 last month, the data showed.