Most of Wall Street drifts as defense companies rally

By STAN CHOE, AP Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Modest moves for Wall Street overall on Thursday are masking some big gains underneath the surface for makers of weapons and other military equipment after President Donald Trump said he wants to increase spending on them sharply

The S&P 500 rose 0.1% in afternoon trading, coming off its first loss in four days, and remains near its all-time high set earlier this week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 334 points, or 0.7%, as of 12:38 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.5% lower.

The majority of stocks climbed as yields ticked higher in the bond market following mixed reports on the U.S. economy.

The number of U.S. workers applying for unemployment benefits rose last week, a potential indicator of increasing layoffs, but by no more than economists expected. Other reports said U.S. workers improved their productivity by more in the summer than economists expected, while the U.S. trade deficit unexpectedly shrank in October.

On Wall Street, defense-industry companies led the market after Trump said he wants to increase U.S. military spending to $1.5 trillion in 2027 from  Read Entire Article