Modest moves for Wall Street overall masked big swings underneath the surface as defense and military equipment makers rallied after President Donald Trump said he wants to increase U.S. military spending sharply.
The S&P 500 edged up by less than 0.1% and remained near its all-time high set earlier this week, coming off its first loss in four days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 270.03 points, or 0.6%, while the Nasdaq composite fell 104.26 points, or 0.4%.
Most stocks climbed as yields ticked higher in the bond market following mixed reports on the U.S. economy. The number of U.S. workers applying for unemployment benefits rose last week, but the increase was described as no more than economists expected. Other reports said U.S. workers improved productivity by more in the summer than economists expected, while the U.S. trade deficit unexpectedly shrank in October.
Defense-industry companies stood out for the biggest gains after Trump said he wants to increase U.S. military spending to $1.5 trillion in 2027 from $901 billion to build the “Dream Military.” L3Harris Technologies jumped 5.2%, Lockheed Martin climbed 4.3% and Northrop Grumman added 2.4%. They were also described as bouncing back from losses the prior day, when Trump complained defense contractors were making military equipment too slowly.
Trump had particular criticism for RTX, whose shares lagged behind rivals. The article said RTX inched up 0.8% after Trump called it the “slowest in increasing their volume.” Trump also signed an executive order Wednesday calling on the Pentagon to ensure future contracts with contractors include a provision prohibiting the ability to buy back their own stock during a period of underperformance on U.S. government contracts.
Another winner on Wall Street was Constellation Brands, which climbed 5.3% after reporting a better profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. The rally in defense and some industrial-related names helped offset drops for technology stocks that held back the overall market, including Nvidia, which was described as the heaviest weight on the S&P 500 after dropping 2.2% and giving back some of its big gain of nearly 40% last year.
Oil prices rose amid continued zigzags since Trump ousted Venezuela’s leader last weekend. A barrel of benchmark U.S. crude climbed 3.2% to $57.76, while Brent crude rose 3.4% to settle at $61.99 per barrel. The article said Venezuela is potentially sitting on more oil than any other country and that an increase in production could push prices further downward, while noting that billions of dollars of investment are likely necessary to get Venezuela’s aging infrastructure in good-enough shape to ramp up production sharply.
Beyond markets, the article said it was not just Venezuela that could be in focus for the U.S. military, citing Trump’s talk of “troubled and dangerous times.” It also referenced Trump’s recent calls for taking over Greenland for national security reasons and a suggestion that he is open to carrying out military operations in Colombia.
In stock markets abroad, indexes moved modestly in Europe after a weak finish in Asia. Japan’s Nikkei 225 dropped 1.6% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 1.2%. In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.18% from 4.15% late Wednesday.