ISTANBUL

Global defense stocks climbed on Thursday, following US President Donald Trump's call for a $1.5 trillion defense budget for 2027 on late Wednesday.

“After the long and difficult negotiations with Senators, Congressmen, Secretaries, and other Political Representatives, I have determined that, for the Good of our Country, especially in these very troubled and dangerous times, our Military Budget for the year 2027 should not be $1 Trillion Dollars, rather $1.5 Trillion Dollars,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on late Wednesday.

“This will allow us to build the 'Dream Military' that we have long been entitled to, and, more importantly, that will keep us SAFE and SECURE, regardless of foe," he added.

In premarket trading on Thursday, Northrop Grumman was up 6.8%, Lockheed Martin rose 6.7%, RTX was up 5.4%, and Kratos Defense increased 6.6%.

Early trading on Thursday saw a 1.4% increase in the Stoxx Europe Aerospace and Defense index. Renk and Leonardo topped the European benchmark, rising 3.6% and 1.5%, respectively.

Mitsubishi Heavy and Bharat Electronics were two Asian defense companies that had increases of 2.4% and 0.3%, respectively.

During a midnight assault over the weekend, US forces captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife. The couple was charged with narcotics trafficking in New York, according to American authorities on Saturday morning.

Since then, Trump has resumed his rhetoric about acquiring Greenland and declared that the US will seize control of Venezuelan energy.