Defense Stocks Rebound as Markets Eye Jobs Report and Tariff Ruling | Closing Bell

Watch on YouTube ↗  |  January 08, 2026 at 23:33  |  10:41  |  Bloomberg Markets
Speakers
Carol Massar — Anchor, Bloomberg
Katie Greifeld — Anchor, Bloomberg
Tim Stenovec — Anchor/Co-Host, Bloomberg TV & Radio
Romaine Bostick — Anchor, Bloomberg

Summary

U.S. stocks closed mixed, with the S&P 500 flat, the Nasdaq lower, and small/mid-caps outperforming. Defense and homebuilding shares rebounded after policy-driven selloffs, while tech and memory chip names lagged. Investors are focused on the upcoming jobs report, CPI data, and bank earnings. Other notable items included Alphabet overtaking Apple in market cap, Nvidia's China H20 import news, Rio Tinto-Glencore merger talks, and GM's EV-related charges.

  • S&P 500 flat; Nasdaq lower; Russell 2000 and Dow transports up 1.1%.
  • Defense stocks rebounded on Trump's proposed $1.5T military budget.
  • Homebuilders rallied after a policy-driven selloff.
  • Small caps outperformed large-cap tech early in the year.
  • Memory chip stocks SanDisk, Western Digital, and Seagate fell after big 2024 gains.
  • Alphabet briefly overtook Apple as the second most valuable company.
  • Nvidia fell 11% from October highs; China may approve H20 imports.
  • GM announced $7.6B in Q4 charges tied to EV strategy and restructuring.
Ideas
Katie Greifeld Anchor, Bloomberg 0:45
Russell 2000 showing record early outperformance.
The Russell 2000 has outperformed the Nasdaq 100 by about four percentage points in the first five sessions of the year, the second best start-year outperformance on record, signaling a strong small-cap setup.
Carol Massar Anchor, Bloomberg 2:46
Homebuilders rebound on policy uncertainty.
The homebuilding index jumped more than 4% with all 18 members higher, rebounding after a selloff caused by President Trump's talk of banning institutional investors from buying single-family homes. The move is policy-driven and it is unclear whether real policy changes will emerge.
Carol Massar Anchor, Bloomberg 3:29
Military budget surge lifts defense stocks.
Defense names sold off yesterday after President Trump warned contractors against dividends, buybacks, and excessive executive pay until production and maintenance improve. They rebounded after Trump said the military budget should be $1.5 trillion, a 50% surge for FY2027, which Carol called a big upside bump. This supports Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics, Northrop Grumman, and the defense sector.
Carol Massar Anchor, Bloomberg 4:17
Alphabet momentum overtakes Apple.
Alphabet overtook Apple intraday to become the second most valuable company by market cap, the first time since 2019. Alphabet was the best performer among the Magnificent Seven in 2025 and Google is on a tear, highlighting strong relative momentum.
Katie Greifeld Anchor, Bloomberg 5:21
China may approve Nvidia H20 imports.
NVIDIA is down about 11% from its October highs amid a rotation out of big tech, but a Bloomberg exclusive reported that China plans to approve imports of Nvidia's H20 chips as soon as this quarter for select commercial use, a potential catalyst worth monitoring.
Tim Stenovec Anchor/Co-Host, Bloomberg TV & Radio 6:04
Memory chip pullback seen as breather.
Memory chip makers SanDisk, Western Digital, and Seagate fell sharply after huge 2024 gains, but Tim's contact Bill Maloney attributed the drop to a technical breather following last year's performance, rather than a fundamental change.
Up Next

This Bloomberg Markets video, published January 08, 2026, features Katie Greifeld, Carol Massar, Tim Stenovec discussing IWM, ITB, ITA, LMT, GD, NOC, GOOG, NVDA, SNDK, WDC, STX. 6 trade ideas extracted by AI with direction and confidence scoring.

Speakers: Katie Greifeld, Carol Massar, Tim Stenovec  · Tickers: IWM, ITB, ITA, LMT, GD, NOC, GOOG, NVDA, SNDK, WDC, STX