January 28 Market Close: GovCon Index Holds Below 70, Posts Nominal Gain

The GovCon Index showed a nominal gain of 0.076 points to 69.839 Thursday as investors with interest in the defense and government contracting industries digested a new round of earnings statements from more of the sector’s largest companies.

Thursday’s close represents the Index’s second straight day that ended below 70 and extends its current correction into a second consecutive session.

Raytheon (RTN) climbed 3.48 percent after the company issued 2016 guidance that forecasts increases in profit and sales from 2015, while Northrop Grumman (NYSE: NOC) rebounded from a sluggish open to record a 1.1-percent gain on fourth quarter earnings that topped Wall Street’s expectations.

L-3 Communications (NYSE: LLL) gained 1.61 percent after the company said it expects to record a year-to-year profit jump in 2016 despite a net loss for 2015 and McKesson Corp. (NYSE: MCK) fell 4.07 percent on fourth-quarter revenue that missed Wall Street’s fourth quarter sales forecasts by $890 million.

Intelsat (NYSE: I) was the Index’s top gainer at 5.08 percent to $3.31 after the company launched its first Epic satellite into orbit overnight.

Luxembourg-based satellite services company Intelsat has seen its stock drop 79.9 percent over the past 12 months and market capitalization has since plummeted 79.83 percent to $335.16 million.

Crude oil’s third consecutive climb Thursday helped send U.S. stocks up in volatile trade despite declines among biotechnology and healthcare shares, according to CNBC.

Top GovCon Index Gainers

*Also listed in the S&P 500 composite index

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