Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] It has been a strong open for the stock market, which has been energized by a slate of better-than-expected earnings results out of the financial sector and a better-than-feared Consumer Price Index for December.

The latter was quickly transmitted in Treasury prices, which shot up and sent yields sharply lower. The 2-yr note yield is down 9 basis points to 4.27% and the 10-yr note yield is down 12 basis points to 4.66.

The stock market is loving that move, which has triggered some short-covering activity and has brought a re-test of the 50-day moving average (5,957) for the market cap-weighted S&P 500 back in focus. 

Riding the results from JPMorgan Chase (JPM 248.58, +1.11, +0.5%), Goldman Sachs (GS 600.84, +29.31, +5.1%), Wells Fargo (WFC 74.93, +3.73, +5.2%), Citigroup (C 77.23, +3.73, +5.0%), Blackrock (BLK 1013.00, +49.83, +5.2%), and Bank of New York Mellon (BK 80.51, +4.57, +6.0%), the financial sector (+2.2%) has taken a lead position along with the rate-sensitive utilities (+2.3%) and real estate (+1.7%) sectors. The consumer discretionary sector (+2.3%) is another early standout.