Investor interest in global defense stocks has surged following President Donald Trump‘s decision to temporarily suspend U.S. military aid to Ukraine. As tensions continue to rise, defense companies may witness increased demand for their products and services in the geopolitical landscape.
What Happened: This development occurs amid ongoing support for Ukraine from European leaders, with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer pledging a £2.26 billion loan for military supplies.
Meanwhile, Trump aims to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy into peace negotiations with Russia. According to the White House, the freeze will remain in place until Trump determines that Ukraine has made a meaningful effort toward diplomatic talks with Moscow.
As the aid remains frozen, defense stocks from around the world come to fore amid the conflicts. Here is a list of global defense exchange-traded funds which investors could consider in order to participate in the upside.
| Global Defense ETFs | YTD Performance | One Year Performance |
| iShares US Aerospace & Defense ETF ITA | 3.10% | 16.00% |
| Invesco Aerospace & Defense ETF PPA | -0.71% | 15.24% |
| SPDR S&P Aerospace & Defense ETF XAR | -3.21% | 14.89% |
| Global X Defense Tech ETF SHLD | 22.01% | 43.29% |
| ARK Space Exploration & Innovation ETF ARKX | -3.91% | 27.01% |
| Direxion Daily Aerospace & Defense Bull 3X Shares DFEN | 5.95% | 15.35% |
| SPDR S&P Kensho Future Security ETF FITE | -4.36% | 13.38% |
Why It Matters: Following a contentious argument in the White House, Trump blasted the Ukrainian leader's claim that peace remains "very, very far away," calling it "the worst statement" and warning, "America will not put up with it for much longer!” in a Truth Social post.
A White House official, speaking anonymously to the Associated Press, characterized the move as a strategic “pause and review” of assistance. The official emphasized that the administration wants to ensure aid is “contributing to a solution” rather than prolonging the conflict.
Meanwhile, here is a list of some U.S. defense stocks to watch.
| U.S. Defense Stocks | YTD Performance | One Year Performance |
| General Dynamics Corp GD | -3.91% | -8.33% |
| Northrop Grumman Corp NOC | -0.89% | 1.22% |
| Lockheed Martin Corp LMT | -6.93% | 3.90% |
| Boeing Co. BA | -7.55% | -21.00% |
| RTX Corp RTX | 10.94% | 42.90% |
| General Electric Co. GE | 17.90% | 57.55% |
| TransDigm Group Inc. TDG | 7.63% | 16.36% |
| Howmet Aerospace Inc. HWM | 14.65% | 86.90% |
| Axon Enterprise Inc. AXON | -11.44% | 67.65% |
| L3Harris Technologies Inc. LHX | -0.14% | -3.16% |
Price Action: The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY and Invesco QQQ Trust ETF QQQ, which track the S&P 500 index and Nasdaq 100 index, respectively, rose in premarket on Wednesday. SPY rose 0.60% to $580.30 and QQQ was up 0.70% to $499.04, according to Benzinga Pro data.
On Tuesday, the SPY declined 1.18% to $576.86, and the QQQ dropped 0.30% to $495.55.
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