Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] Outside of individual stocks like Walt Disney (DIS 109.00, +6.28, +6.1%), which impressed investors with its fiscal Q4 earnings report and FY25 outlook, there hasn't been any buying conviction at the index level.

Passive investors have been taking a pass so far, taking stock of the market's stretched valuation and short-term overbought posture perhaps as a basis to hold back for now. At its current level, the market cap-weighted S&P 500 is trading at 22.3x forward 12-month earnings, which is a 23% premium to the 10-year average of 18.1, according to FactSet data.

While Walt Disney is the Dow Jones Industrial Average's biggest point gainer and percentage mover today, UnitedHealth (UNH 591.82, -14.05, -2.3%) shares the counter distinction of being its biggest point loser. Salesforce (CRM 333.51, -8.21, -2.4%), however, has nudged it out as the Dow's biggest loser in percentage terms.

A look at the S&P 500 sectors shows the industrials (-1.5%) and consumer discretionary (-1.2%) sectors bringing up the rear while the heavily-weighted information technology sector (+0.1%) sits at the head of the pack with the utilities (+0.3%) and consumer staples (+0.1%) sectors.