Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] The major indices are sporting modest gains, having lost some of their opening momentum as technology stocks have faded from higher levels.

Micron's (MU 108.83, +13.06, +13.6%) report and outlook provided the initial boost, but with many stocks having risen sharply already ahead of the Micron report, the follow through has been constrained likely on valuation concerns. Entering today, the Nasdaq Composite was up 15.1% from its August 5 low, the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index was up 19.6%, and NVIDIA (NVDA 123.39, -0.12, -0.1%) was up 36.2%.

Thus far, there hasn't been much constraint for Chinese stocks since China unleashed a wave of stimulus measures on Tuesday. The Shanghai Composite is up 9.2% from its close on Monday.

Chinese officials have touted the possibility of even more stimulus, including perhaps a $150 billion capital injection for the country's largest banks. This jawboning, along with the notion that economic prospects will be improving in China, has driven today's outperformance of the materials sector (+1.8%) and Chinese ADRs, evidenced by the 6.8% gain in the iShares China Large-Cap ETF (FXI 31.57, +2.01, +6.8%).