Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] The stock market has exhibited somewhat lackluster action at the index level thus far. The S&P 500, Nasdaq Composite, and Dow Jones Industrial Average trade slightly higher or slightly lower than prior closing levels while the Russell 2000 outperforms, trading 0.8% higher.

The mixed responses to earnings results since yesterday's close have contributed to the mixed look in the market. UPS (UPS 126.11, -19.07, -13.1%), NXP Semiconductors (NXPI 257.64, -26.17, -9.2%), and Nucor (NUE 160.83, -2.50, -1.5%) show some of the steepest losses among names that reported results.

Meanwhile, Spotify (SPOT 331.50, +36.05, +12.2%), Lockheed Martin (LMT 487.34, +12.75, +2.7%), and Sherwin-Williams (SWH 335.39, +13.08, +4.0%) are winning standouts following their reports. 

Bank stocks are also outperforming the major indices amid ongoing earnings news from the space. The SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF (KRE) trades 1.2% higher and the SPDR S&P Bank ETF (KBE) shows a 1.1% gain.

The heavily-weighted S&P 500 financial sector is 0.2% higher. MSCI (MSCI 541.38, +35.35, +7.0%) is the top performing stock in the sector and in the index after above-consensus earnings and revenue.

The top performing sector is consumer discretionary (+0.5%) while the energy sector (-1.4%) lags amid downside pressure on commodity futures. WTI crude oil futures are 1.7% lower at $77.10/bbl and natural gas futures are down 2.5% to $2.23/mmbtu. 

Reviewing today's economic data:

• June Existing Home Sales 3.89 mln (Briefing.com consensus 4.00 mln); Prior 4.11 mln
  • The key takeaway from the report is that sales activity slowed to levels last seen at the end of 2023, suggesting that elevated mortgage rates and low inventory are offsetting a seasonal activity boost that would be normally seen in the summer.