Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] The stock market opened to mixed action at the index level. There's a negative bias under the index surface, though, due to some consolidation activity after last week's record highs for the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average. 

Decliners lead advancers by a 2-to-1 margin at the NYSE and by a 3-to-2 margin at the Nasdaq. 

Relative strength in the mega cap space has provided some offsetting support to the major indices. The Vanguard Mega Cap Growth ETF (MGK) shows a 0.3% gain.

The downside bias in equities also stems from rising market rates. The 10-yr yield is up seven basis points to 4.14% and the 2-yr yield is up five basis points to 4.00%. 

The Leading Indicators Index dropped 0.5% in September (Briefing.com consensus -0.3%) following a 0.2% decline in August.