Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] The stock market exhibited upside and downside action at the index level, but moves in either direction were relatively limited. The S&P 500 (+0.5%) traded up as much as 0.5% and traded as low as 0.5% today. The mixed action was influenced by volatile moves in some mega cap names, along with hesitation in front of tonight's presidential debate and tomorrow's release of the August Consumer Price Index at 8:30 ET.

Apple (AAPL 220.11, -0.80, -0.4%) was an influential mover in the mega cap space, trading below yesterday's close through the entire session after disclosing that it expects to record a one-time income tax charge in its fiscal Q4 of up to approximately $10 billion after losing a back-tax ruling in the EU Court of Justice.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (-0.2%) lagged the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite (+0.8%), trading lower most of the session due to sizable declines in its large bank components. 

JPMorgan Chase (JPM 205.56, -11.25, -5.2%) was the worst performer in the DJIA, followed by Goldman Sachs (GS 467.13, -21.44, -4.4%), after the former suggested expectations for 2025 net interest income are a bit too high and the latter said it sees Q3 trading revenue tracking towards a 10% decline. 

Other bank stocks traded down in response to the aforementioned headlines, and in response to Ally Financial (ALLY 32.67, -6.99, -17.6%) saying credit challenges have intensified. The SPDR S&P Bank ETF (KBE) settled 0.9% lower and the S&P 500 financial sector closed 1.0% lower.

The only other S&P 500 sector to register a decline was energy, which fell 1.9% amid falling oil prices. WTI crude oil futures sank 4.1%, or $2.81, to $65.85/bbl.

Treasuries settled with gains ahead of tomorrow's release of the August CPI. The 10-yr yield dropped five basis points to 3.65% and the 2-yr yield settled six basis point lower at 3.61%. On a related note, the $58 billion 3-yr note sale met strong demand.

• S&P 500: +15.2% YTD
• Nasdaq Composite: +13.4% YTD
• Dow Jones Industrial Average: +8.1% YTD
• S&P Midcap 400: +6.0% YTD
• Russell 2000: +3.5% YTD

Today's economic lineup featured the NFIB Small Business Optimism Survey, which dropped to 91.2 in August from 93.7. 

Looking ahead, Wednesday's economic lineup features:

• 7:00 ET: Weekly MBA Mortgage Index (prior 1.6%)
• 8:30 ET: August CPI (Briefing.com consensus 0.2%; prior 0.2%) and Core CPI (Briefing.com consensus 0.2%; prior 0.2%)
• 10:30 ET: Weekly crude oil inventories (prior -6.87 mln)