Exchange-traded funds that buy aerospace and defense stocks were surging on Monday, after war erupted over the weekend between Israel and Hamas.
Israel officially declared war on Sunday after a surprise attack by Hamas. The attack has left more than 1,000 dead on both sides, the Associated Press reported Monday. At least nine American citizens have been killed in the weekend attacks, the AP said, citing information from the State Department. “It seems like we’re entering a different phase globally with respect to geopolitics,” with conflicts appearing more likely compared with the past decade or two, he said. “As countries need to replenish their weapons, we do think defense companies will do very well.”
The top five holdings of the iShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense ETF as of Oct. 6 were Boeing BA, -0.50%, RTX Corp. RTX, +4.37%, Lockheed Martin Corp. LMT, +8.30%, Textron Inc. TXT, +2.38% and General Dynamics Corp. GD, +8.79%, according to data on BlackRock’s website.