Markets Right Now: Stocks dip after North Korea missile test

NEW YORK – The latest on developments in financial markets (All times local):

9:30 a.m.

Stocks are opening lower on Wall Street Tuesday led by drops in materials companies and banks, as investors were rattled by the launch of a North Korean missile that flew over Japan and fell into the Pacific Ocean.

Traditional safe haven investments were in demand including gold, which jumped $13.80 an ounce to $1,329.

Defence contractors benefited. Raytheon, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman each rose more than 1 per cent.

Retailers also traded lower. Best Buy fell 8.8 per cent.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index slid 11 points, or 0.4 per cent, to 2,433.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost 100 points, or 0.5 per cent, to 21,707. The Nasdaq composite fell 33 points, or 0.5 per cent, to 6,249.