NEW YORK, January 3, 2026, 05:44 ET — Market closed.
RTX Corp shares closed up 2.1% at $187.25 on Friday, snapping a four-session losing streak and finishing within 0.4% of a 52-week high, MarketWatch data showed. 1
The move matters because RTX is starting 2026 perched near the top of its recent range, where even small shifts in rates or risk appetite can trigger outsized repositioning.
It also lands at a moment when markets are hunting for a new narrative after 2025’s run, with defense and aerospace stocks often acting as a crossroads trade between geopolitics and the economic cycle.
Other large defense names also advanced in the session, while Boeing led gains among aerospace manufacturers, leaving the group broadly higher into the new year, MarketWatch data showed. 2
Geopolitics stayed in focus after President Donald Trump said the United States would intervene if Iran violently suppressed peaceful protests, Reuters reported. 3
On Wall Street, the Dow rose 0.66% and the S&P 500 gained 0.19% as chip stocks and Boeing helped markets recover after a midday dip, Reuters said. Joe Mazzola, head of trading and derivatives strategist at Charles Schwab, described a “buy the dip, sell the rip” mentality. 4
Treasury yields — the interest rate on U.S. government bonds — climbed and the dollar strengthened, Reuters reported, a mix that can sway industrial valuations and sentiment even when company news is light. 5
For RTX, investors tend to weigh defense demand and Pentagon spending expectations alongside the discount rate implied by bond yields, because higher yields can compress stock valuations.
Before the next session, traders will be watching whether RTX can push decisively through the $188 area, the top end of its 52-week range; a failure to break out can keep the stock in a tight consolidation. RTX last closed at $187.25 versus a prior close of $183.40, and traded between $182.17 and $187.27 on Friday, Investing.com data showed. 6
Next week brings macro catalysts that can reset risk appetite, including the U.S. jobs report due January 9 and the consumer price index, a key inflation gauge, on January 13, Reuters reported. 7
