Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] Heading into the closing stretch before the three-day weekend, and the large-cap indices continue to exhibit relative strength. Notably, the Russell 2000, which is the domain of small-cap stocks, is up just 0.1% after being up 1.0% shorty after today's open.

The Russell 2000, though, can still claim a performance edge over the market cap-weighted S&P 500 this week. It is up 3.7% versus 3.1% for the S&P 500; however, the equal-weighted S&P 500 is up 4.1% this week.

Economic data played an important role in this week's trading. The economic calendar won't have the same cachet next week, yet it will still feature some attention-grabbing reports that include weekly initial jobless claims, preliminary January S&P Global US Manufacturing and Services PMIs, and December existing home sales.

As a reminder, U.S. markets will be closed Monday for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.