US STOCKS-Wall St set for lower open; defense firms climb as Trump calls for budget boost

Wall Street's main indexes were set for a lower open on Thursday, as investors turned cautious in the run-up to Friday's crucial nonfarm payrolls report, while defense companies advanced after President Donald Trump called for a $1.5 ⁠trillion military budget. Wall Street's main indexes diverged on Wednesday.

Wall Street's main indexes were set for a lower open on Thursday, as investors turned cautious in the run-up to Friday's crucial nonfarm payrolls report, while defense companies advanced after President Donald Trump called for a $1.5 ⁠trillion military budget.

Wall Street's main indexes diverged on Wednesday. The S&P 500 and the Dow ended lower after hitting intraday record highs as banks retreated from their peaks, while the Nasdaq stayed afloat on investor optimism around AI-related stocks. The Dow marked its steepest one-day decline since November 18 in the previous session, whereas ​the Nasdaq reached its highest level since late October.

In a milestone reached on Wednesday, Google-parent Alphabet surpassed Apple in market capitalization for the first time ‍since 2019, becoming the second-largest U.S. company. Alphabet's shares were up 1.5% in premarket trading on Thursday after closing 2.4% higher in the previous session.

Defense stocks drew attention following Trump's statement that the 2027 U.S. military budget should be $1.5 trillion, significantly higher than the $901 billion approved by Congress for 2026. RTX gained 3.2%, Lockheed Martin was up 6.7%, Northrop Grumman inched 7.9% higher and ⁠Kratos Defense advanced ‌11.6%.

Investors looked past Trump's vow to ⁠block defense contractors from paying dividends or buying back shares until they speed up weapons production. The move comes days after U.S. military forces captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. The White House ‍said on Tuesday that Trump was also discussing options for acquiring Greenland.

At 8:43 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were down 172 points, or 0.35%, S&P 500 E-minis were down 8.75 ​points, or 0.13%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were down 39.5 points, or 0.15%. The number of Americans filing new applications for unemployment benefits

rose moderately last week, ⁠suggesting that layoffs were relatively low at the end of 2025, though demand for labor remained sluggish.

Also pointing to Wednesday's ADP report, Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA Research, said "both ⁠data points ended up pointing to a softening in the job picture, that's what's causing the market to be a bit concerned about Friday's employment data." Separate reports on Wednesday pointed to a weak picture, with job openings dropping to a 14-month low, while hiring remained sluggish.

The focus this week will be ⁠on Friday's crucial nonfarm payrolls report for December, which would be among the first reliable datasets after the longest U.S. shutdown in history. Among other ⁠stocks, Applied Digital was up 6.2% before ‌the bell after the data center operator reported second-quarter revenue above Wall Street estimates on Wednesday.

Constellation Brands gained 2.3% after reporting third-quarter sales and profit above Wall Street estimates on Wednesday. Revolution Medicines fell 8.3%, as AbbVie denied a media ⁠report that it was in talks to acquire the drug developer.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)