Defence spending set to keep expanding

Article Excerpt

Global military spending reached a multi-decade high in 2022 as the Russian-Ukrainian war and other regional conflicts prompted governments to beef up their military capabilities. The U.S. remains by far the largest global military power—and although the country’s spending declined over the past decade, it has started growing again. One reason is that large increases in spending by countries such as China and Russia have alerted Western governments to the need to keep military spending at adequate levels. Defence stocks performed well over the long-term Aerospace and defencc companies have performed well over the longer term and have managed to be well ahead of the broad S&P 500 index since 2006. However, over the medium term, the defence companies lagged, mostly because of a reduction in U.S. military spending and well-publicized struggles at Boeing (i.e. its 737 Max jet). That stock is a top component of several of the indices that track the defence industry. The volatility of defence stocks was also higher than the…