Executive Mosaic’s GovCon Index snapped its two-day losing streak, rising 0.63% to $5,212.26. Wall Street sustained its momentum following the gains of the Nasdaq Composite (+1%) and benchmark S&P 500 Index (+0.75%). The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average (+0.58%) added 235 points.
About 77% of NYSE stocks and nearly 60% of Nasdaq constituents advanced Thursday. Warner Bros. Discovery (Nasdaq: WBD) jumped 10.37% to lead market gainers. Grocery giant Kroger (NYSE: KR) rose 7.18% after reporting quarterly profits and favorable consumer trends. Vaccine maker Moderna (Nasdaq: MRNA) tanked 12.36% after slashing its R&D budget by almost 20% in the next three years.
The GovCon Index turned positive as 28 of 30 stocks advanced. Carlyle Group (Nasdaq: CG) and Mercury Systems (Nasdaq: MRCY) were the top performers with +2.7% and +2.53%. Tetra Tech (Nasdaq: TTEK) and Accenture (NYSE: ACN), declined 1.35% and 0.12%, respectively.
Private equity firm Carlyle has decided to take StandardAero public. Notwithstanding a potential sale, the aircraft maintenance services company filed for an initial public offering.
The Defense Logistics Agency awarded Raytheon, an RTX (NYSE: RTX) business, and DRS Network & Imaging Systems a shared maximum $165 million firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract under a solicitation for the production of Second Generation Forward Looking Infrared Block 1 B kit spare parts. The five-year contracts have no option periods.
General Dynamics Electric Boat Corp., a subsidiary of General Dynamics (NYSE: GD), was awarded a $99 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract by the U.S. Navy. The contract continuation is for engineering, technical, design agent, and planning yard support for operational, strategic and attack submarines.
The U.S. Navy also awarded Lockheed Martin Space, a major division of Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT), a $67.4 million hybrid fixed-price-incentive, cost-plus-fixed-fee, and cost-plus-fixed-incentive-fee modification to a previously awarded and announced contract for Trident II (D5) missile production and deployed systems support.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics released the producer price index showing a 0.2% increase in August. With the latest core CPI and core PPI data, market analysts see a 100% chance for a 25-basis points rate cut next week. It would be the first time in four years that the US Federal Reserve will lower its benchmark interest rate.
