Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 (+0.4%) and Dow Jones Industrial Average (+0.1%) set fresh record highs on this winning week. The Nasdaq Composite (+0.6%) jumped more than 100 points while the Russell 2000 slid 0.2% after outperforming through the week. 

A big gain in Netflix (NFLX 763.89, +76.24, +11.1%) following better-than-expected earnings results and guidance provided some support to the broader market. This price action also boosted the S&P 500 communication services sector (+0.9%), which logged the largest gain today.

The next best performing sector was real estate (+0.7%), followed by utilities (+0.6%) and information technology (+0.5%). The financial sector settled flat, weighed down by an earnings-related loss in Dow component American Express (AXP 276.79, -8.99, -3.2%). Shares declined despite better-than-expected Q3 EPS results and above-consensus guidance.

The only sector to register a decline was energy (-0.4%), which underperformed through the week as oil prices dropped below $70.00/bbl. WTI crude oil futures settled Friday at $68.62/bbl.

The upside bias in equities is also related to a drop in market rates following this morning's data. The Housing Starts (1.354 mln; Briefing.com consensus 1.350 mln) and Building Permits (1.428 mln; Briefing.com consensus 1.455 mln) report for September showed above-consensus starts coupled with some softness in permits.

The 10-yr yield settled two basis points lower today and unchanged for the week at 4.07%. The 2-yr yield settled four basis points lower today and one basis point higher this week at 3.95%.

• Nasdaq Composite: +23.2% YTD
• S&P 500: +23.0% YTD
• S&P Midcap 400: +15.0% YTD
• Dow Jones Industrial Average: +14.8% YTD
• Russell 2000: +12.3% YTD

Reviewing today's economic data:

• September Housing Starts 1.354 mln (Briefing.com consensus 1.350 mln); Prior was revised to 1.361 mln from 1.356 mln, September Building Permits 1.428 mln (Briefing.com consensus 1.455 mln); Prior was revised to 1.470 mln from 1.475 mln
  • The key takeaway from the report is that the change single-unit starts and permits varied across regions after showing across-the-board growth in August.

Monday's economic data features September Leading Indicators (Briefing.com consensus -0.3%; prior -0.2%) at 10:00 ET.