Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] Today's trade features a negative bias. Decliners lead advancers by a nearly 3-to-1 margin at the NYSE and by a 3-to-2 margin at the Nasdaq. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite trade higher despite the negative skew thanks to support from mega cap names. 

Alphabet (GOOG 170.90, +2.55, +1.5%) is a top performer ahead of its earnings report this afternoon. Mega cap stocks were trading down initially alongside the broader equity market, which is pressured by rising market rates. The 10-yr yield is up five basis points to 4.33%.

The price action in Alphabet and Meta Platforms (META 588.05, +9.89, +1.7%) has boosted the communication services sector to the top of the leaderboard, up 1.3% from yesterday. The information technology sector has also benefitted from strength in its mega cap components, trading 1.2% higher.

Market participants are also digesting a mixed slate of earnings news. D.R. Horton (DHI 165.29, -15.08, -8.4%), Ford (F 10.36, -1.00, -8.8%), and Pfizer (PFE 28.48, -0.37, -1.3%) are some of the names trading lower after reporting results. Dow component McDonald's (MCD 297.13, +0.34, +0.1%), V.F. Corp (VFC 20.77, +3.74, +21.9%), and Royal Caribbean (RCL 209.78, +6.26, +3.1%) are some of the earnings-related winners today.

Reviewing today's economic data:

• August FHFA Housing Price Index 0.3%; Prior was revised to 0.2% from 0.1%
• August S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Index 5.2% (Briefing.com consensus 5.1%); Prior 5.9%
• October Consumer Confidence 108.7 (Briefing.com consensus 99.0); Prior was revised to 99.2 from 98.7
  • The key takeaway from the report is that the increase in confidence in October was broad-based across all age groups and most income groups, and featured a substantially more optimistic view about future business conditions than the prior month. That sets up to be a supportive component for consumer spending.
• September JOLTS - Job Openings 7.443 mln; Prior was revised to 7.861 mln from 8.040 mln
• September Adv. Intl. Trade in Goods -$108.2 bln; Prior was revised to -$94.2 bln from -$94.3 bln
• September Adv. Retail Inventories 0.8%; Prior was revised to 0.7% from 0.5%
• September Adv. Wholesale Inventories -0.1%; Prior 0.2%