Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] The stock market opened with strong gains in response to the Fed's aggressive rate cut yesterday. The major indices show increases ranging from 1.2% to 1.5%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 trade at fresh all-time highs after the opening push higher.

The upside moves are boosted by a fear of missing out on further gains, along with strength in mega caps and chipmakers.

The Vanguard Mega Cap Growth ETF (MGK) shows a 2.2% gain and the PHLX Semiconductor Index sports a 3.8% gain.

This price action has propelled the S&P 500 information technology sector to the top of the leaderboard by a decent margin, up 2.8%.

Many stocks are participating in early gains, leading seven of the 11 S&P 500 sectors to trade more than 1.0% higher. Also, the Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF (RSP) trades 1.1% higher. 

Existing home sales totaled 3.86 million in August (Briefing.com consensus 3.9 million) following a revised count of 3.96 million in July (from 3.95 million).

The leading indicators index dropped 0.2% in August (Briefing.com consensus -0.3%) following a 0.6% decline in July.