Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] The equity market held up well today. The S&P 500 (+0.01%), Nasdaq Composite (+0.1%), Russell 2000 (-0.1%) and Dow Jones Industrial Average (+0.1%) traded near prior closing levels through the entire session. The price action was encouraging due to lingering uncertainty around a potential escalation in the Middle East.

Israel said it would retaliate against Iran, but the market wasn't bothered by this today. Stocks also had a muted response to the ADP Employment Change Report for September, which didn't impact the market's thinking on soft landing scenario for the economy. Payroll growth was decent (143,000), wage inflation moderated, hiring was seen in both the goods and service-providing sectors, and across all geographic regions.

Relative strength in the semiconductor space provided some support to the stock market, leading the PHLX Semiconductor Index (SOX) to settle 1.5% higher. The price action also boosted the S&P 500 information technology sector (+0.6%), along with a gain in Apple (AAPL 226.78, +0.57, +0.3%).

The energy sector (+1.1%) also closed higher amid rising oil prices. WTI crude oil futures, which traded at $72.41/bbl earlier, settled 0.7% higher at $70.20/bbl. 

The consumer discretionary sector was the worst performer, closing 0.8% lower due in part to a solid loss in NIKE (NKE 83.10, -6.03, -6.8%), which reported fiscal Q1 results and withdrew its FY25 guidance.

Humana (HUM 246.49, -32.96, -11.8%) was another losing standout after reporting that only 25% of its members are enrolled in 4-star plans and above, versus 94% in 2024.

• Nasdaq Composite: +19.4% YTD
• S&P 500: +19.7% YTD
• Dow Jones Industrial Average: +12.0% YTD
• S&P Midcap 400: +11.4% YTD
• Russell 2000: +8.3% YTD

Reviewing today's economic data:

• Weekly MBA Mortgage Applications -1.3%; Prior 11.0%
• September ADP Employment Change 143K (Briefing.com consensus 120K); Prior was revised to 103K from 99K

Looking ahead to Thursday, market participants receive the following data:

• 8:30 ET: Weekly Initial Claims (Briefing.com consensus 223,000; prior 218,000) and Continuing Claims (prior 1.834 mln)
• 9:45 ET: Final September S&P Global U.S. Services PMI (prior 55.7)
• 10:00 ET: August Factory Orders (Briefing.com consensus 0.1%; prior 5.0%) and September ISM Non-Manufacturing Index (Briefing.com consensus 51.6%; prior 51.5%)
• 10:30 ET: Weekly natural gas inventories (prior +47 bcf)