Weird Mouse Pointer Issue - Vertical Black Up Arrow

I have a strange problem and cannot pinpoint the issue. Normally, up until a few weeks ago, whenever I'd click on the Downloads Folder on my dock (which I have set to LIST view and FOLDER instead of stack, the mouse pointer would be a black arrow on a diagonal. Lately however, on a random basis, that mouse pointer is now a black perfectly vertical arrow pointing North (straight up).

It's annoying because it's random. One thing I have noticed is that it only seems to happen when I have a Safari window open on my screen at the time I'm clicking on the Downloads folder.... Like I said, extremely weird.

Any suggestions/ideas?

Thanks