Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] The stock market opened to gains. The S&P 500 (+0.4%), Nasdaq Composite (+0.7%), and Dow Jones Industrial Average (+0.3%) are all trading higher. The Russell 2000 has continued its recent outperformance, trading 1.2% higher. 

The upside bias is driven by carryover momentum and ongoing buying in the semiconductor space. The PHLX Semiconductor Index (SOX) shows a 1.5% gain. 

This price action, along with a solid gain in Apple (AAPL 230.98, +3.38, +1.5%), has propelled the S&P 500 information technology sector (+1.1%) to the top of the leaderboard among the nine sectors trading higher. The consumer discretionary sector (+0.7%) is the next best performer. 

Meanwhile, the financial sector (-0.3%) is lagging the broader market after earnings results from JPMorgan Chase (JPM 203.08, -4.37, -2.2%), Wells Fargo (WFC 55.88, -4.28, -7.1%), and Citigroup (C 63.82, -1.91, -2.9%) garnered negative responses from investors. 

The University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment survey dropped to 66.0 in the preliminary July reading (Briefing.com consensus 67.5) from 68.2 in June.