January 11 Market Close: GovCon Index Lower, Lockheed Hits 2% Intraday Decline After Trump F-35 Remarks

Executive Mosaic’s GovCon Index pared losses Wednesday afternoon but closed lower for the session as McKesson Corp. (NYSE: MCK) and large primes weighed despite gains by all three of the U.S.’ major stock indices.

GovCon Index gainers outnumbered decliners by a 2-to-1 ratio and six of its 11 S&P 500 stocks advanced with General Dynamics (NYSE: GD) the top net performer among companies in both indices, while c0-listed McKesson ended as the GCI’s largest overall drag.

McKesson tumbled as the S&P healthcare index fell 1.04 percent after President-elect Donald Trump described the pharmaceutical industry as having “gotten disastrous” due to production taking place outside the U.S. and he criticized the process to determine drug prices.

Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) closed fifth-lowest for net decliners and tumbled as low as 1.71 percent during the session after Trump repeated his desire to cut costs surrounding the F-35 fighter jet program almost a month after his initial Dec. 12 tweet on the issue that sent the stock down 2.32 percent then.

During his Wednesday conference, Trump said there will be “big things on the F-35 program and perhaps the F-18 program” with “some competition.”

F-18 fighter jet maker Boeing (NYSE: BA) closed up $0.33 to $159.40.

In a statement to CNBC, Lockheed claimed the price of the F-35A variant for the U.S. Air Force has declined 60 percent from the program’s first lot contract to the more recent ninth batch.

Lockheed also told the network it is working to reduce overall program costs by $5 billion through 2022 through two separate initiatives.

Trump’s latest comments come three weeks after his meeting with Lockheed CEO Marillyn Hewson to discuss the F-35 program and subsequent tweet the next day that he asked Boeing to price out a “comparable” F-18 Super Hornet as a potential alternative.

S&P 500-listed L3 Technologies (NYSE: LLL) ended second-lowest for GovCon Index net decliners and was followed by Northrop Grumman (NYSE: NOC), Orbital ATK (NYSE: OA) then Lockheed.

A 1.2-percent gain by energy stocks led six major sectors higher and the S&P 500 to a gain after no movement Tuesday as the Nasdaq composite index recorded another all-time record high close despite losses among biotechnology and healthcare shares.

Crude oil futures in New York settled up 2.81 percent to $52.25 a barrel as traders welcomed signals Saudi Arabia is complying with an output cut agreement between major producers.

Market Summary

Lowest GovCon Index Net Performers

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Top GovCon Index Percentage Performers