The GovCon Index erased two days of losses with a gain of 1.183 percent to a one-month high close of 74.769 Wednesday as U.S. markets reacted to the Federal Reserve‘s April meeting minutes that showed some hesitance by policymakers over whether to raise interest rates in April.
Healthcare stocks in the S&P 500 composite index led advancers in U.S. markets at 2.5 percent and 2 percent, respectively.
Dual S&P 500-GovCon Index company and pharmaceutical services provider McKesson Corp. (NYSE: MCK) was the GCI’s top gainer at 5.51 percent and sixth-largest traded in Wednesday volume at 1.5 million shares versus the 10-day average of 1.3 million.
Fed meeting minutes from its mid-March meeting indicated a split in whether to hold baseline interest rates at current levels of 0.25-to-.0.50 percent due to global economic risks, according to CNBC.
Crude oil futures in New York jumped 5.2 percent to $37.75 a barrel on data that showed U.S. stockpiles fell 4.9 million barrels in the week ended April 1.
Top GovCon Index Gainers
| Symbol | Company | $ Current Price | Net Change | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MCK | McKesson Corp.* | 163.21 | +8.52 | +5.51% |
| HII | Huntington Ingalls Industries | 140.69 | +3.34 | +2.43% |
| VEC | Vectrus | 22.33 | +0.47 | +2.15% |
| CACI | CACI International | 105.98 | +2.08 | +2.00% |
| HRS | Harris Corp.* | 76.49 | +1.43 | +1.91% |
* Also listed in the S&P 500 composite index
Market Summary
| Advancing GovCon Index Issues | 26 |
| Declining GovCon Index Issues | 3 |
| Unchanged GovCon Index Issues | 1 |
| Index | Value | Net Change | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| GovCon Index | 74.769 | +0.874 | +1.183% |
| S&P 500 | 2, 066.66 | +21.49 | +1.05% |
| Dow Jones Industrial Average | 17, 716.05 | +112.73 | +0.64% |
| NASDAQ | 4, 920.71 | +76.78 | +1.59% |
