The GovCon Index regained some ground Thursday with an increase of  0.379 percent — or 0.264 points — to close at 69.478.Stocks recovered some losses from the week after the release of data on an increase in consumer spending during the month of November and a report that indicates fewer Americans applied for first-time jobless benefits that month last week,  according to the Wall Street Journal.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 63.19 points to 17, 596.34, the S&P 500 composite index climbed 8.17 points to 2, 034.31 and the NASDAQ composite index rose 21.03 points to 4, 705.06.
Top Percentage Gainers
| Company | Stock Price | $ Change | % Change |
| Â Healthnet | 51.61 | 1.48 | 2.95% |
| Â SAIC | 52.13 | 1.07 | 2.10% |
| Â Harris Corp. | 70.61 | 0.94 | 1.35% |
| Â Navistar | 36.79 | 0.38 | 1.04% |
| Exelis | 16.96 | 0.16 | Â 0.95% |
Market Summary
| Advancing Issues | Â 21 (70.0%) |
| Declining Issues | Â 8 (26.67%) |
| Unchanged Issues | Â 1 (3.33%) |
The Executive Mosaic GovCon Index is a composite index that tracks 30 of the largest publicly-traded Government Contracting (GovCon) firms.
