Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] The stock market opened to gains across the board at the index level on the first session of the new year. The Nasdaq Composite shows a 0.8% gain, the S&P 500 trades 0.7% higher, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average sports a 0.7% increase.

Equities are benefitting from buy-the-dip interest after a soft finish to a strong year. Some rebalancing activity and new inflows to start the month, quarter, and year have also contributed to the upside bias. 

Many stocks are participating in a broad advance thus far. The equal-weighted S&P 500 trades 0.7% higher and ten of the 11 S&P 500 sectors are higher. The energy sector leads the pack, showing a 1.5% gain, followed by communication services (+1.4%) and financials (+0.9%).

The rate-sensitive real estate sector is alone in negative territory despite a drop in market rates. The 2-yr yield is down two basis points to 4.22% and the 10-yr yield is down two basis points to 4.55%.

Construction spending was flat in November (Briefing.com consensus 0.2%) following a 0.5% increase in October (revised from 0.4%).