Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] Selling has picked up some, which has driven the major indices lower. Small-cap and mid-cap indices remain in positive territory, but have also recoiled from earlier highs.

This will be a lingering question as valuation concerns, and the notion that the market is overbought on a short-term basis, simmer: Does selling in one area lead to broader selling interest or will other areas pick up the slack from weakness in one area and keep overall losses in check?

The latter is the hallmark of the rotational trade that has gained traction in the latter half of the year and certainly since the election. The Russell 2000, up 0.8% a short time ago, is now up a more modest 0.2%.

Only three S&P 500 sectors are higher at this juncture: materials (+1.0%), energy (+0.9%), and health care (+0.4%). The weakest sectors today are the communication services (-1.2%), utilities (-1.2%), financial (-0.9%), and industrials (-0.8%) sectors.