Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] The stock market has exhibited mixed action at the index level so far. Market breadth is negative, but modestly so. Decliners lead advancers by a 2-to-1 margin at the NYSE and at the Nasdaq. There's some hesitation in play ahead of tonight's presidential debate and tomorrow's release of August Consumer Price Index at 8:30 ET. 

Mixed action in the mega cap space has contributed to the lackluster action in the major indices. Apple (AAPL 219.84, -1.07, -0.5%), which disclosed that it expects to record a one-time income tax charge in its fourth fiscal quarter of up to approximately $10 billion after losing a back-tax ruling in the EU Court of Justice, has been an influential laggard.

The S&P 500 information technology sector still trades 0.3% higher despite the aforementioned decline and a loss in NVIDIA (NVDA 106.08, -0.40, -0.4%). Microsoft (MSFT 411.19, +5.46, +1.4%) and Broadcom (AVGO 145.92, +5.13, +3.6%) have provided some offsetting support. 

The rate-sensitive real estate (+0.9%) and utilities (+0.6%) sectors are showing some strength as market rates drop. The 10-yr note yield is down four basis points to 3.66% and the 2-yr note yield is down six basis points to 3.61%.

Only two sectors are down more than 0.4%. The financial sector sports a 1.8% decline after some headlines from the space invited selling interest. Goldman Sachs (GS 464.23, -24.34, -5.0%) said it sees Q3 trading revenue tracking towards a 10% decline, JPMorgan Chase (JPM 202.10, -14.71, -6.8%) suggested expectations for 2025 net interest income are a bit too high, and Ally Financial (ALLY 32.24, -7.40, -18.7%) said credit challenges have intensified. 

The energy sector shows a 2.2% decline as oil prices move lower. WTI crude oil futures are down 4.4% to $65.67/bbl. On a related note, OPEC lowered the world oil demand growth forecast for 2024. 

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