March 2 Market Close: GovCon Index Marginally Up on February Payroll Report, Rate Hike Odds Rise

The GovCon Index edged higher Wednesday with a gain of 0.300 points to 73.224 as the three major U.S. stock indices also closed narrowly up on new data investors welcomed as showing slight improvement in the U.S. economy.

The latest National Employment Report from payroll processing services company ADP and Moody’s Analytics said private businesses in the U.S. added 214, 000 jobs in February, a number Reuters reported surpassed economists’ expectations of 190, 000 new positions.

According to Bloomberg, traders have priced in a 40-percent chance of a rate hike in June compared to the 26-percent odds posted last week and have the probability of a December increase at 68 percent, up from 42 percent last Wednesday.

Energy stocks and financial shares were the top gainers among sectors in the S&P 500 composite index, which rose 8.1 points, or 0.41 percent.

Top GovCon Index Gainers

Symbol	Company	$ Current Price	Net Change	% Change
I	Intelsat	1.88	0.38	25.33%
NAV	Navistar International	9.27	0.43	4.86%
OA	Orbital ATK	84.69	3.78	4.85%
EGL	Engility Holdings	16.02	0.64	4.16%
CACI	CACI International	99.23	2.26	2.33%