The GovCon Index plummeted from a strong morning open to close at a steep decline of 1.346 percent to 76.570 that mirrored sharp losses for U.S. markets in the afternoon session.
The Index approached a 1-percent gain mid-morning before its entry into negative territory that mirrored the U.S.’Â three major stock indices.
U.S. investors appeared to take profits a week ahead of the Federal Reserve‘s policy meeting that economic observers expect to result in an interest rate hike from current near-zero levels, Reuters reported.
Crude oil in New York and brent crude in London, the world’s benchmark for the commodity, rose 4 percent in the morning session after the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported a stockpile decline for the first time in 10 weeks before both futures settled down as investors focused on numbers that showed distillates such as diesel showed the sharpest increase since January, CNBC said.
The S&P 500’s energy sector has plunged more than 9 percent since December’s start.
Top GovCon Index Gainers
| Symbol | Company | $ Current Price | Net Change | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NAV | Navistar International | 11.51 | +0.91 | +8.58% |
| I | Intelsat | 4.05 | +0.22 | +5.74% |
| TXT | Textron | 41.47 | +0.33 | +0.75% |
| BAESY | BAE Systems | 30.20 | +0.20 | +0.67% |
| CSRA | CSRA | 28.08 | +0.17 | +0.61% |
Market Summary
| Advancing Issues | 6 |
| Declining Issues | 23 |
| Unchanged Issues | 1 |
| Index | Value | Net Change | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| GovCon Index | 76.570 | -1.045 | -1.346% |
| S&P 500 | 2, 047.66 | -15.93 | -0.77% |
| Dow Jones Industrial Average | 17, 492.64 | -75.36 | -0.43% |
| NASDAQ | 5, 022.87 | -75.38 | -1.48% |
