Middle East Turbulence Leads to Dow and S&P 500 Decline

Turbulence in the Middle East - including attacks by Iranian gunboats on cargo ships and a sense of ongoing tensions between Lebanon and Israel impacting U.S.-Iran diplomacy - has given traders the green light to scale back on risk, sending Dow Industrials and S&P 500 down by 0.4% on Thursday.  Nasdaq Composite fell by a wider margin, with Tech especially weak on heavy selling in Software Infrastructure as well as Applications.  More defensive areas of the market such as Consumer Staples and Utilities were largely higher however, with Industrials being paced by United Rentals'23% post-earnings jump.In the opening hour of the evening session however, Tech is being boosted by a blowout earnings report from Intel, with Nasdaq 100 up 0.5% and S&P e-minis up a decimal.  In commodities, WTI Crude Oil remains bid above $96 per barrel.  Precious metals, meanwhile, continue to trade in a month-long sideways pattern, with Gold above 4,700 and Silver holding above $75.50 per ounce.Check out this evening's top movers from around Wall Street, compiled by The Fly.HIGHER AFTER EARNINGS -MaxLinearup 31.6%World Kinectup 22.5%Intelup 19.2%; Other semis up in sympathy: Alpha and Omega Semiconductorup 5.7%, Qualcommup 0.9%Carlisle Companiesup 7.2%SAP SEup 6.9%Comfort Systemsup 6.3%Edwards LifesciencesRobert Halfup 3.1%AppFolioup 2.4%Verisignup 1.5%Newmontup 0.9%DOWN AFTER EARNINGS -Courseradown 11.9%Boyd Gamingdown 4.9%SS&C Technologiesdown 2.1%