Executive Mosaic’s GovCon Index reversed course mid-week with a 1.03% jump to $4,906.86. Wall Street’s major indexes outperformed following a tech rally and renewed rate cut hopes. The Nasdaq Composite (+1.18%) and S&P 500 (+1.02%) posted new record highs, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (+1.09%) advanced nearly 430 points.
ON Semiconductor (Nasdaq: ON) and Advanced Micro Devices (Nasdaq: AMD), along with AI king NVIDIA (Nasdaq: NVDA), powered the tech-heavy index. Tesla (Nasdaq: TSLA) edged 0.35% higher and extended its winning streak to 11 days. Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) raised its price target for the EV stock from $175 to $248.
The GovCon Index, aided by 26 gainers, lighted green and staged a comeback. AeroVironment (Nasdaq: AVAV) and Palantir Technologies (NYSE: PLTR) were the top performers, with +4.53 and +3.76%, respectively. The Carlye Group (Nasdaq: CG) and four other stocks popped more than 2%. Mercury Systems (Nasdaq: MRCY) declined 2.07% to lead four decliners.
The hype surrounding artificial intelligence fuels the breakout of AI stocks. As of July 10, 2024, Palantir Technologies remains the top-performing GCI stock with +65.52%. AeroVironment is a distant second with +39.2% year-to-date. Published reports say that private equity firm Carlyle Group is acquiring Vantive, including debt, for over $4 billion. The acquisition target is a spinoff of Baxter International’s kidney care business.
Also, on Wednesday, Honeywell (Nasdaq: HON) announced its fourth acquisition in 2024. The multinational conglomerate will purchase the liquefied natural gas process technology and equipment business of Air Products & Chemicals for $1.81 billion.
The U.S. Navy awarded HII (NYSE: HII) a $27.4 million cost-plus-fixed-fee modification to a previously awarded contract to exercise an option to support research and development of advanced submarine technologies for current and future submarine platforms.
Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s statements before the House Committee on Financial Services buoyed investors’ sentiment about a rate cut. He told the panel that a U.S. recession or significant jump in unemployment is not required to bring inflation down to the central bank’s target. Powell added that the Feds won’t wait for inflation to reach 2% before lowering interest rates, although they are monitoring the job market.
