Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] The stock market trades higher on the final session of a downbeat week. Advancers lead decliners by a roughly 2-to-1 margin at both the NYSE and at the Nasdaq.

Gains in mega caps, along with chipmakers, are providing integral support to index gains, but many other stocks are participating in upside moves.

Even Apple (AAPL 232.06, +1.48, +0.6%), which was lower ahead of the open following a downgrade to Underweight from Sector Weight at KeyBanc Capital Markets, is coming along for the upside ride.

The Vanguard Mega Cap Growth ETF (MGK) shows a 1.2% gain and the PHLX Semiconductor Index (SOX) is 2.1% higher than yesterday. 

Durable goods orders declined 0.8% month-over-month in September (Briefing.com consensus -0.9%) following a downwardly revised 0.8% decline (from 0.0%) in August. Excluding transportation, durable goods orders increased 0.4% month-over-month (Briefing.com consensus -0.1%) following an upwardly revised 0.6% increase (from 0.5%) in August.

The key takeaway from the report is that it had a split growth personality. A 0.5% increase in nondefense capital goods orders excluding aircraft conveyed a pickup in business spending, yet the 0.3% decline in shipments of nondefense capital goods orders excluding aircraft, which factors into GDP computations, declined 0.3% on the heels of a 0.1% decline in August and a 0.4% decline in July.

The University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment survey rose to 70.5 in the final October reading (Briefing.com consensus 68.9) from 68.9.