Executive Mosaic’s GovCon Index posted a second straight daily loss, declining 0.49% and ending the week lower at $5,076.36. The Nasdaq Composite (+0.81%) and S&P 500 (+0.25%) hit record highs anew, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (-0.28%) extended its slump from the previous day.
Friday’s top gainers were Lululemon Athletica (Nasdaq: LULU) and Hewlett Packard (NYSE: HPE). The shares of the athletic apparel company rose 15.89% on better-than-expected quarterly sales and profits. HPE jumped 10.62% after reporting record revenue in Q4 fiscal 2024 due to strong AI server demand.
Stalled rebound
The GovCon Index erased gains from midweek’s rebound, and like on Thursday, had 22 losers. Palantir Technologies (NYSE: PLTR) topped eight gainers with +6.22%. Science Applications International Corporation (Nasdaq: SAIC) fell 2.25%, although nine other GCI stocks in the losing bunch fell more than one percent.
Palantir Technologies announced a plan to launch a consortium with defense technology firm Anduril to deliver technological infrastructure and artificial intelligence advancements. The goal is to ensure the US government and its industry partners maintain their leading position in AI and have next-generation military and national security capabilities.
Also, on Friday, Palantir Technologies and Booz Allen Hamilton (NYSE: BAH) jointly announced a partnership to accelerate defense innovation and strengthen national security. The companies will focus on improving the US counter-unmanned aircraft systems or CUAS to boost their defense against lethal aerial threats in real time.
Meanwhile, the US Navy awarded Boeing (NYSE: BA) an $86.2 million firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract relating to the follow-on sustainment engineering support for the Navy and Marine Corps.’ C-40A aircraft.
US job growth
The jobs market rebounded from a labor strike and hurricanes as expected. Based on the Bureau of Labor Statistics data, the US economy added 227,000 jobs in November compared to 36,000 in October. However, the unemployment rate ticked higher to 4.2% from 4.1%.
Federal Reserve Governor Michele Bowman said the labor market continues to outperform beyond her expectations. Market analysts still expect the central bank to deliver a rate cut this month following the latest job growth and slightly higher unemployment rate.
