Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 (+0.1%) and Nasdaq Composite (+0.1%) trade slightly higher than yesterday's closing levels. Upside moves coincided with some mega caps trading up after initial losses. 

Apple (AAPL 227.82, +0.64, +0.3%), which traded down as much as 1.0%, and Microsoft (MSFT 413.86, +0.41, +0.1%), which traded down as much as 0.8%, are standouts in that respect. 

Separately, the Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index improved to 103.5 in August (Briefing.com consensus 100.0) from an upwardly revised 101.9 (from 100.3) in July.

The key takeaway from the report is that consumers are starting to show more concern about labor market conditions, which could eventually translate into lower consumer spending activity if that labor market angst leads to deferred discretionary spending decisions.