Overview
- Aerospace and defense benchmarks hit records, with Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, L3Harris and Kratos posting gains ranging from about 6% to more than 16%.
- Trump called for raising the 2027 U.S. military budget to $1.5 trillion, far above the $901 billion approved for 2026.
- The president signed an executive order directing the Pentagon to include provisions that prohibit stock buybacks when contractors underperform on U.S. contracts.
- Broader indexes were mixed as tech and chip names fell, while Treasury yields edged higher toward 4.18% and the dollar firmed.
- Oil rose about 2% as traders watched Venezuela developments, with coverage citing reports of Nicolás Maduro’s capture that lacked detailed official confirmation, and positioned for Friday’s jobs data after initial claims ticked up to 208,000.