The markets traded modestly higher during the midday with the Dow rising 12 points to 18,528 even as crude oil price slipped. Nasdaq climbed 28 points to 5,058.
Baton Rouge police officers were ambushed on Sunday by a lone gunman who killed three officers and wounded three. As fears of violence spread across the nation, gun purchases rose. Shares of Smith & Wesson and Sturm, Ruger & Co. both climbed.
The recent shootings of black men by police officers has sparked renewed calls for officers to wear body cameras and use nonlethal weapons. Shares of Digital Ally have surged more than 50% since cellphone videos surfaced of Alton Sterling's shooting in Baton Rouge. TASER International, which makes stun guns and wearable cameras, has climbed nearly 12%.
Security concerns at the Republican National Convention, which began today, extend beyond potential physical attacks. Hackers have already attempted to disrupt the convention. Organizers are monitoring all activity on the convention network with Microsoft and ForeScout software and are using AT&T and Cisco to secure external access to its network.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of more than 5 to 3 on the NYSE and by more than 9 to 7 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 gained 5 points to 2,166. Bitcoin fell $6 to $665.
