Seoul stocks close nearly 6% lower as Middle East tensions escalate

The U.S. Department of War signed a landmark framework agreement with Lockheed Martin to rapidly scale production and delivery of the AIM-260 Joint Advanced Tactical Missile, establishing a multi-year procurement pathway under the Trump administration's "Arsenal of Freedom" framework. The AIM-260 JATM is designed to replace the legacy AIM-120 AMRAAM with significantly extended range, advanced signal processing and superior lethality against peer and near-peer air threats. Lockheed Martin is the lead prime contractor, while Northrop Grumman supplies advanced solid rocket motors, warheads and sensor technologies and has delivered more than 1 million tactical solid rocket motors. RTX Corporation, the legacy manufacturer of AMRAAM, is working with the U.S. government and NATO allies to scale AMRAAM production to at least 1,900 units per year, and Boeing and General Dynamics also stand to benefit as suppliers of navigation, guidance, energetics and structural components. The framework is expected to benefit defense-focused exchange-traded funds, including the iShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense ETF with $12.54 billion in net assets, the Invesco Aerospace & Defense ETF with a market value of $7.63 billion, and the State Street SPDR S&P Aerospace & Defense ETF with $6.13 billion in assets under management.

The State Department has approved two potential arms sales to Saudi Arabia totaling $5.75 billion, split between a $5 billion package of JDAM-ER guidance kits and bombs and a separate $750 million deal for AGT-1500 tank engines. The JDAM package consists of 5,004 KMU-572 and 5,000 KMU-556 JDAM guidance kits and 5,004 BLU-111 and 5,000 BLU-117 bombs, with Boeing identified as principal contractor for the JDAM-ERs and Honeywell handling the engines. The State Department said the sales would strengthen Saudi Arabia's airborne defense capabilities and improve interoperability with U.S. and Gulf partner forces. For Boeing, the deal is modest against its roughly $85 billion Defense, Space and Security backlog, of which international orders already account for 27%, and the segment reported a second-quarter operating loss largely on charges tied to the VC-25B Air Force One program. For Honeywell Aerospace, the smaller AGT-1500 contract fits its established defense propulsion business and adds to an international defense business that makes up about 30% of its total Defense and Space revenue. Neither potential sale is large enough to meaningfully affect either company's short-term results on its own.