Numerous defense stocks are down on the daily chart on Friday, October 10, following President Donald Trump’s Gaza ceasefire announcement on Thursday.
Most notably, Boeing (NYSE: BA) plummeted 4.14%, while RTX Corp (NYSE: RTX) sank 3.79%. At the same time, Honeywell (NASDAQ: HON) and L3Harris Technologies (NYSE: LHX) plunged 2.86% and 2.79%, respectively.
BAE Systems (LSE: BA) dropped 2.13%, followed by Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT), 1.22% in the red, and General Dynamics (NYSE: GD), which dipped 1%. Northrop Grumman (NYSE: NOC) and Airbus (XPAR: AIR) saw modest losses of 0.46% for the former and 0.34% for the latter.
Most defense contractors are still in the green on the month, though, after a strong run over the past quarter. For example, RTX Corporation is expected to see a 3.49% growth in earnings per share (EPS) for fiscal 2025, based on Barchart data, its stock being up over 27% over the past six months.
Accordingly, the downtick at the close of this week could be a sign of a short-term pullback as traders cash out some gains after a rally, rather than reflecting cooling investor sentiment toward the sector as a whole.
Foreign markets not spared
The European market also took a hit on Friday, further weighed down by renewed political uncertainty in France.
For instance, the Stoxx Europe Aerospace and Defense index slid 0.7%, while the German defense contractors Hensoldt (ETR: HAG) and Renk (VIE: RENK) fell 3.5% and 3.2%, respectively. Rheinmetall (ETR: RHM) and Thales (EPA: HO) retreated 2.47% and 1.94%, in that order.
On the other side of the globe, several South Korean defense shares tumbled as well.
Hanwha Aerospace (KRX: 012450), for instance, fell 5.01%, while Hanwha Systems (KRX: 272210) slipped 3.18%. LIG Nex1 (KRX: 079550) suffered an even bigger blow, going down 5.35%, just as Hyundai Rotem (KRX: 064350) lost 3.10% and Poongsan Corp. (KRX: 103140) declined 4.37%.
Featured image via Shutterstock
