Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] Today's trade featured above-average volume due to the quarterly expiration of stock options, index options, single stock futures, and index futures. The Dow Jones Industrial Average reached a fresh all-time high, closing 0.1% above yesterday's close, while the S&P 500 (-0.2%) and Nasdaq Composite (-0.4%) settled slightly lower than yesterday. The Russell 2000 lagged its peers, dropping 1.1%.

The overall downside bias was related to consolidation activity after a solid run for stocks. The Russell 2000 still logged a 2.1% gain this week and the S&P 500 climbed 1.4% since last Friday. 

Weakness in the chipmaker space was another factor in today's trade, leading the PHLX Semiconductor Index (SOX) to decline 1.3%. Intel (INTC 21.84, +0.70, +3.3%) was a standout from the space, surging in the afternoon trade following news that Qualcomm (QCOM 168.92, -5.00, -2.9%) is interested in a takeover deal, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Losses in semiconductor names, as well as in Microsoft (MSFT 435.27, -3.42, -0.8%) and Apple (AAPL 228.20, -0.67, -0.3%), contributed to the price action in the S&P 500 information technology sector (-0.5%). None of the sectors moved more than 0.7% in either direction except utilities (+2.7%).

The utilities sector benefitted from a big move up in Constellation Energy (CEG 254.98, +46.48, +22.3%), which announced a 20-year power purchase agreement with Microsoft that will include the restart of Three Mile Island Unit 1.

NIKE (NKE 86.52, +5.54, +6.8%) also made headlines today after announcing that Elliott Hill will become President and CEO, effective October 14, 2024.

There was no US economic data of note today. 

Looking ahead to next week, the September Consumer Confidence Index will be released on Tuesday, the August New Home Sales report will be released on Wednesday, the weekly jobless claims report will be released on Thursday, and the August Personal Income and Spending report will be released on Friday.

• Nasdaq Composite: +19.6% YTD
• S&P 500: +19.6% YTD
• S&P Midcap 400: +11.6% YTD
• Dow Jones Industrial Average: +11.6% YTD
• Russell 2000: +9.9% YTD