Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 (+0.2%) and Nasdaq Composite (flat) have traded around their prior closing levels while the Dow Jones Industrial Average trades 0.5% higher. The Russell 2000 has continued its recent outperformance, trading 1.6% above its prior close, bringing its gain this week to 2.3%. The S&P 500, meanwhile, shows a 0.2% gain since last Friday.

Losses in some mega cap names have limited upside moves in the large cap indices. Two of the three $3 trillion names -- Microsoft (MSFT 412.65, -6.17, -1.5%) and Apple (AAPL 230.66, -3.17, -1.4%) -- sport solid declines today. The Vanguard Mega Cap Growth ETF (MGK) shows a 0.2% decline.

Chipmakers are trying to rebound somewhat from yesterday's sharp losses, providing some offsetting support to the broader market. The HLX Semiconductor Index (SOX) trades up 0.4%, helped by gains in NVIDIA (NVDA 134.87, +3.30, +2.5%) and Broadcom (AVGO 177.47, +1.49, +0.8%). 

Many other stocks are benefitting from buy-the-dip interest. Advancers lead decliners by a 4-to-1 margin at the NYSE and by a nearly 3-to-1 margin at the Nasdaq. The equal-weighted S&P 500 trades up 0.9%.

The heavily-weighted financial sector is a leader today after earnings news from the likes of Morgan Stanley (MS 120.60, +8.47, +7.6%), First Horizon (FHN 17.47, +0.76, +4.5%), and Synchrony Financial (SYF 55.38, +2.09, +3.9%).

The utilities (+1.5%) and real estate (+0.9%) sectors are also among the leaders thus far. 

Reviewing today's economic data:

• Weekly MBA Mortgage Applications Index -17.0%; Prior -5.1%
• September Import Prices -0.4%; Prior was revised to -0.2% from 0.8%
• September Import Prices ex-oil 0.1%; Prior was revised to 0.1% from -0.1%
• September Export Prices -0.7%; Prior was revised to -0.9% from -0.7%
• September Export Prices ex-ag. -0.9%; Prior was revised to -0.7% from -0.6%