Executive Mosaic’s GovCon Index closed at another all-time high Monday with 28 out of 30 companies including all 11 S&P 500-listed stocks in green and middle- to large-tier defense contractors as the session’s top advancers.
L-3 Communications (NYSE: LLL) led all net gainers after the military technology maker was selected by Drexel Hamilton as a defense stock to watch for a potential market outperform alongside Harris Corp. (NYSE: HRS), which closed up 1.02 percent.
Boeing (NYSE: BA) added 1.17 percent on the Air Force‘s decision to move the KC-46 aerial refueling tanker forward to the low-rate initial production phase, which clears the branch to award $2.8 billion in a pair of contracts within 30 days for 19 aircraft.
Eight S&P 500-listed companies were among the GovCon Index’s top 10 net gainers in Monday trade.
Five GovCon Index stocks hit 52-week highs during intraday trade: General Dynamics (NYSE: GD), Harris, Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT), Raytheon (NYSE: RTN) and Science Applications International Corp. (NYSE: SAIC).
Non-GovCon Index company KBR (NYSE: KBR) climbed 12 cents Monday — or 0.77 percent – after analysts at D.A. Davidson reiterated a “Buy” rating on the engineering and construction contractor a day after the Houston-based firm announced its $300 million purchase of the Honeywell (NYSE: HON) U.S. government services business.
All three major U.S. stock indices also ended at record closes and the U.S. dollar fell on growing investor belief that central banks worldwide will push for additional stimulus and also loosen monetary policy, Bloomberg reported.
Crude oil futures in New York settled up 2.81 percent to $45.74 a barrel and the international Brent benchmark in London rose 2.92 percent to $48.33 as traders looked ahead to future talks between OPEC members in moves to stabilize the global market.
The U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude benchmark has added 10 percent for August so far and Brent has risen nearly 13 percent.
Market Summary
| Index | Value | Net Change | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| GovCon Index | 83.187 | +0.572 | +0.692% |
| S&P 500 | 2, 190.15 | +6.10 | +0.28% |
| Dow Jones Industrial Average | 18, 636.05 | +59.58 | +0.32% |
| NASDAQ | 5, 262.02 | +29.12 | +0.56% |
| Advancing GovCon Index Issues | 28 |
| Declining GovCon Index Issues | 2 |
| Unchanged GovCon Index Issues | 0 |
Top GovCon Index Net Gainers
| Symbol | Company | $ Current Price | Net Change –´ | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LLL | L-3 Communications * | 150.37 | 2.86 | 1.94% |
| HII | Huntington Ingalls Industries | 169.28 | 2.48 | 1.49% |
| LMT | Lockheed Martin * | 266.50 | 2.35 | 0.89% |
| GD | General Dynamics | 153.40 | 1.93 | 1.27% |
| NOC | Northrop Grumman | 219.81 | 1.60 | 0.73% |
Top GovCon Index Percentage Gainers
| Symbol | Company | $ Current Price | Net Change | % Change –´ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NAV | Navistar International | 13.66 | 0.49 | 3.72% |
| I | Intelsat | 2.79 | 0.10 | 3.72% |
| TXT | Textron | 40.31 | 1.10 | 2.81% |
| CUB | Cubic Corp. | 47.06 | 1.15 | 2.50% |
| CAE | CAE | 13.95 | 0.33 | 2.42% |
* Also listed in the S&P 500 composite index
