Stock market today: Global markets are mixed as Middle East tensions escalate [Video]

HONG KONG – Asian stocks pulled back while European markets opened higher on Monday as worries about potentially escalating tensions in the Middle East rattled financial markets, pushing investors to look for safer places for their money.

The future for the S&P 500 gained 0.5%, and that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.4% higher.

Oil prices fell despite tensions roiling the Middle East, where an attack late Saturday marked the first time Iran had ever launched a military assault on Israel, despite decades of enmity dating back to the country’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.

A barrel of benchmark U.S. oil declined 97 cents to $84.69 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, lost $1.22 to $89.23. Slower demand from China, combined with forecasts that growth in supply is outpacing demand, has kept prices in check.

“While the drone attack has grabbed headlines, its immediate impact on global markets, particularly oil prices and …