Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] The stock market advanced this morning as NVIDIA (NVDA 205.88, +4.86, +2.42%) pushed further into record territory, bringing along the S&P 500 (+0.3%), Nasdaq Composite (+0.6%), and DJIA (+0.6%). 

The stock surpassed $5 trillion in market capitalization this morning, becoming the first company to do so. 

The information technology sector (+0.9%) paced the early advance but has since lost roughly a third of its early gain. Semiconductors are a point of strength (the PHLX Semiconductor Index is up 2.2%), and the sector also benefits from strong earnings results from Teradyne (TER 173.59, +29.21, +20.23%) and Seagate Tech (STX 261.63, +38.63, +17.32%), the latter name lifting its peer Western Digital (WDC 140.36, +15.44, +12.36%) to a double-digit gain as well. 

Earnings strength also boosts the industrials sector (+1.0%) after Caterpillar (CAT 588.04, +63.57, +12.12%) exceeded expectations, though Boeing (BA 215.85, -7.48, -3.35%) moves lower after another earnings miss. 

The communication services sector (+0.5%) is also on the advance as Alphabet (GOOG 272.75, +4.32, +1.61%) moves higher ahead of its earnings after the close. 

Additionally, Microsoft (MSFT 538.57, -3.50, -0.65%) and Meta Platforms (META 750.53, -0.91, -0.12%) will report their earnings this afternoon, marking an important day for the mega-caps that have led the recent index-level advance. 

The trend of mega-cap outperformance is evident in the market-weighted S&P 500’s (+0.3%) edge over the S&P 500 Equal Weight Index (-0.2%). For the week, that divergence has widened, with the market-weighted index up 1.7% while the equal-weighted version is down 0.7%.

Breadth figures are currently almost perfectly even on both the NYSE and Nasdaq, marking an improvement from yesterday's levels.

Only five S&P 500 sectors hold a loss, though three are relatively wide.

The real estate sector (-1.7%) continues to underperform this week as some earnings misses combine with investors overlooking the sector in favor of AI plays this week. 

The consumer staples sector (-1.4%) has also been largely overlooked, while the financials sector (-1.0%) faces immense weakness from Fiserv (FI 74.59, -51.58, -40.88%) after a significant earnings miss and downside guidance. 

Outside of the S&P 500, the small-cap Russell 2000 (+0.8%) and S&P Mid Cap 400 (+0.5%) now hold solid gains after a morning spent at or beneath their flatlines. 

Many names within those indices are likely to benefit from the upcoming FOMC decision, which is widely expected to result in another 25-basis point rate cut. 

Reviewing today's data:

• Weekly MBA Mortgage Applications Index 7.1%; Prior -0.3%
• September Pending Home Sales 0.0% (Briefing.com consensus 1.2%); Prior was revised to 4.2% from 4.0%