Raytheon, the company that makes the Tomahawk missiles used in the air strikes on Syria by the United States, is rising in early stock trading Friday. Such a change would bring with it a demand for more military hardware, and investors are signaling this morning that USA defense contractors are expected to benefit from a more hard-power policy.
The shares of other missile and weapons manufacturers, including Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and General Dynamics, each rose as much as 1%, collectively gaining almost $5 billion in market value as soon as they began trading, even as the broader market fell.
Based on the pictures, it appears the strike specifically targeted the base's aircraft shelters, which housed the planes reportedly responsible for Tuesday's chemical weapons attack on civilians in Syria's northwestern Idlib province. U.S. government blamed Syrian President Basher-Al-Assad for the cause.
Defense stocks General Dynamics and Northrop Grumman also rallied Friday, a day when the broader market was flat due to a mixed U.S.jobs report.
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North Korea's pursuit of a nuclear missile capable of striking the United States is the most pressing issue in the relationship. It was the first direct USA assault on the Russian-backed government of Bashar al-Assad in six years of civil war.
Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) provides the command and control system for the Tomahawk missile and is the second largest US defense contractor.
Boeing, meanwhile, makes other types of cruise missiles.
The budget that the President Donald Trump proposed last month includes an additional $52 billion for the Department of Defense. And shares of Boeing are up 14%, making it the second-best stock in the Dow, trailing only Apple.
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