GovCon Index Registered Weekly Gain; Best Week in 2024 for Wall Street

Photo by ekapol sirachainan / Shutterstock

Executive Mosaic’s GovCon Index ended positive in three of five trading days, capping the week with a +0.85% advance to $5,256.32. The index, which tracks the stock performances of 30 major government contractors, registered a 2.37% weekly gain following a sharp decline in the first week of September.

Wall Street got a big lift Friday because the coming rate cut could be bigger than expected. The Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500 had their best weeks in 2024, with +5.95% and +4.02%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (+2.6%) added 1,048.37 points during the week.

Palantir Technologies (NYSE: PLTR), the top-performing GCI stock thus far in 2024, advanced 17.34% in five days. The AI stock is now up 107.28% year-to-date. Boeing (NYSE: BA) tumbled 3.69% before the weekend after union members rejected its four-year tentative labor contract and voted to go on strike instead.

On Sept. 9, Palantir announced a new five-year enterprise agreement with BP (NYSE: BP). The company’s AIP software will assist the British oil and gas company safely and reliably harness large language models to improve and accelerate human decision-making. 

Wall Street recovered from a steep selloff to start September, and the focus has shifted to the policymakers’ meeting and interest-rate decision next week. Most analysts expect a 25-basis-point rate cut, although former New York Fed President William Dudley said there’s a scope for a 0.50% cut.