Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] The equity market has exhibited mostly lackluster action at the index level. The S&P 500, Nasdaq Composite, and Dow Jones Industrial Average trade slightly higher or slightly lower than prior closing levels. The Russell 2000 underperforms, trading 1.0% lower.

Volume is below-average to this point in the session, reflecting light participation in front of Labor Day. There's also a lack of market-moving news and participants are waiting on NVIDIA's (NVDA 128.19, +1.73, +1.4%) earnings after Wednesday's close, contributing to the muted action in the market.

The upside moves in shares of NVDA following yesterday's 2.3% slide have provided some support to the broader market. Gains in Apple (AAPL 227.89, +0.70, +0.3%) and Eli Lilly (LLY 956.19, +5.66, +0.6%) are also helping index performance.

AAPL trades higher after naming Kevan Parekh as its new CFO and LLY trades up on its announcement of a Zepbound savings program for non-covered patients with an on-label prescription that will feature single-dose vials priced at a 50% or greater discount through its self-pay channel.

The S&P 500 sectors trade in mixed fashion. The financial (+0.5%) and information technology (+0.4%) sectors lead the pack. The energy sector is the worst performer, sliding along with oil prices ($75.45/bbl, -1.97, -2.5%). 

The 10-yr note yield is up two basis points to 3.84% and the 2-yr note yield is down four basis points to 3.91%.

Reviewing today's economic releases:

• 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.