Executive Mosaic’s GovCon Index turned positive, finishing at $4,818.61 on a modest 0.16% gain. Wall Street regained lost ground following the rally of tech stocks. The Nasdaq Composite (+1.68%) recorded its highest close, while the S&P 500 gained 0.74%. Only the Dow Jones Industrial Average (-0.01%) underperformed or is flat.
Mega-cap tech stocks Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) and NVIDIA (Nasdaq: NVDA) jumped 4.3% and 4.1%, respectively. All the “magnificent seven” stocks ended in positive territory. Multinational investment bank Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) tumbled 5.25% on a Wall Street Journal report that federal agencies are investigating its wealth management unit on potential money laundering activities by some clients.
At the close of trading Thursday, 22 of 30 GovCon Index stocks had positive gains. The top performers were ICF (Nasdaq: ICFI) and Palantir Technologies (NYSE: PLTR). L3Harris Technologies (NYSE: LHX) lost 1.51% to lead eight decliners.
Iridium Communications (Nasdaq: IRDM) signed a five-year commercial contract with L3Harris Technologies for the Iridium Satellite Time and Location service. Over 36 L3Harris-operated communications network backbone nodes and Federal Aviation Administration facilities across the US will utilize Iridium’s STL service.
Boeing (NYSE: BA) declined 0.73% on news that the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee will hold a hearing next week regarding its safety culture. Meanwhile, the U.S. Navy awarded the plane manufacturer a not-to-exceed $111.8 million undefinitized, firm-fixed-price order against a previously issued basic ordering agreement. The order is for the production and delivery of avionics long-lead-time parts and spares.
The Missile Defense Agency awarded Lockheed Martin’s (NYSE: LMT) Rotary and Mission Systems an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract with a maximum ceiling amount of $4,099,900,000. Under this follow-on contract, Lockheed Martin will perform several tasks, including support updates and new capabilities to the command and control, battle management and communications system.
The earnings season will kick off Friday, and investors hope to see strong corporate earnings to buoy the market. Because of accelerating inflation, the Federal Reserve could cut rates once or twice, at best, in 2024.
Market Summary
| INDEX | PRICE | NET CHANGE | % CHANGE |
|---|---|---|---|
| GovCon Index Daily Average | 4,818.61 | 7.79 | 0.16% |
| Dow Jones Industrial Average | 38,459.08 | -2.43 | -0.01% |
| S&P 500 | 5,199.06 | 38.42 | 0.74% |
| NASDAQ | 16,442.20 | 271.84 | 1.68% |
Top 5 GovCon Index Daily Percentage Performers
| SYMBOL | PRICE | NET CHANGE | % CHANGE |
|---|---|---|---|
| ICFI | 145.74 | 2.85 | 1.99% |
| PLTR | 22.84 | 0.42 | 1.87% |
| FLR | 42.22 | 0.58 | 1.39% |
| J | 145.89 | 1.55 | 1.07% |
| BAH | 144.2 | 1.49 | 1.04% |
Top 5 GovCon Index Daily Net Performers
| SYMBOL | PRICE | NET CHANGE | % CHANGE |
|---|---|---|---|
| ICFI | 145.74 | 2.85 | 1.99% |
| TTEK | 194 | 1.89 | 0.98% |
| J | 145.89 | 1.55 | 1.07% |
| BAH | 144.2 | 1.49 | 1.04% |
| HON | 196.87 | 1.22 | 0.62% |
Top 5 GovCon Index Daily Percentage Decliners
| SYMBOL | PRICE | NET CHANGE | % CHANGE |
|---|---|---|---|
| LHX | 202.39 | -3.10 | -1.51% |
| TXT | 94.62 | -1.02 | -1.07% |
| GD | 287.5 | -2.54 | -0.88% |
| BA | 173.36 | -1.27 | -0.73% |
| RTX | 100.78 | -0.58 | -0.57% |
