US Market Reaction To Israeli Strikes On Hezbollah's Base In Beirut; Dow Jones, Others Fall On October 3

The US market reacted bearish to the latest strikes by Israel on the headquarters of Hezbollah in Beirut, the capital city of Lebanon. The Middle East war continues to escalate, and Israel's retaliation against Iran's latest missile attack is also in question. Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite index fell, however, the downside was limited on Thursday. Also, the performance comes ahead of the US job data scheduled to be released on Friday.

Dow Jones: The Dow Jones Industrial Average or DJIA index dipped by 184.93 points or 0.44% to end at 42,011.59. The index opened at 42,011.59 and even touched its intraday high and low of 42,125.84 and 41,847.81 respectively.

S&P 500: The index dipped marginally by 9.60 points or 0.17% to close at 5,699.94. The index opened at 5,698.19 and ranged between 5,718.78 to 5,677.37 during the session.

Nasdaq Composite Index: The tech-heavy index also slipped by 6.65 points or 0.037% to end at 17,918.48. The index ranged between 18,011.25 and 17,826.42 in the trading hours.

On the latest performance, Trading Economics data said that all the three US major indexes finished in the red on Thursday as investors worried about escalating Middle East tensions ahead of the September payroll report.

According to Trading Economics, Wall Street sentiment soured after President Biden suggested support for Israel striking Iran's oil facilities, raising concerns about disruptions to global energy supplies. Oil prices surged over 5%, driven by fears related to the conflict, pushing energy stocks up. Meanwhile, US services sector data showed expansion in September, briefly lifting markets before retreating. The labor market showed signs of cooling, with a slight increase in jobless claims and lower planned layoffs. Corporate news included Levi Strauss' (-7.6%) revenue forecast miss and Tesla's (-3.3%) halting orders for its cheapest Model 3.

Middle East Tensions:

Israel is in a brutal riff-off with Hezbollah for the first time since 2006. Since the ground invasion that started in late September 2024, Israel has been raging through Hezbollah militant bases. It has now reached the heart of the capital, Beirut, countering Hezbollah fighters in a bloody battle.

In the latest airstrike, Israel's bombardment reportedly killed nine people in Beirut. However, as per Health Minister Firass Abiad, about 1,974 people have lost their lives including 127 children, while some 9,384 are injured since the latest Israeli ground invasion, which also comes for the first time as a critical response from Israel has been receiving rockets and missiles from Hezbollah right after October 7th massacre.

Meanwhile, Iran's UN ambassador has stated that the country's latest barrage of missiles in Israel was a proportionate response.

With the war only intensifying by the day, the UK, Russia and other countries are chartering flights to evacuate their citizens from Lebanon, while airlines such as Emirates, Qatar Airways and others have either cancelled or suspended flights to Iran, Iraq, Jordan, and Lebanon due to the geopolitical unrest in the Middle East.

On other hand, US President Joe Biden reportedly revealed that there are discussions underway over potential military action by Israel on the oil fields of Iran.