Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 (+0.6%) and Nasdaq Composite (+1.1%) both notched record intraday and closing highs today, supported by a strong, wire-to-wire performance from the information technology sector (+1.5%).

While the broader market largely advanced as well, certain pockets of weakness in the market saw the DJIA close on its flat line. 

The technology sector was primed for upward momentum before the opening bell, as NVIDIA (NVDA 189.06, +4.02, +2.17%) CEO Jensen Huang joined CNBC, offering generous remarks about the prospects of OpenAI and other AI companies while also stating that the "demand of computing has gone up substantially."

Chipmaker names delivered on the early hype today, with the PHLX Semiconductor Index advancing 3.4% on the day. Advanced Micro Devices' (AMD 235.56, +24.05, +11.37%) impressive gain was the best in the S&P 500, building on momentum from earlier in the week after announcing a partnership with OpenAI. 

Dell (DELL 164.53, +13.66, +9.05%) also expanded upon news catalysts from earlier this week, capturing another sizable gain after announcing an increase to its long-term annual revenue growth expectations yesterday.

While the information technology sector held several of the best-performing S&P 500 names today, it is also home to the biggest laggard in Fair Isaac (FICO 1695.01, -184.54, -9.82%). FICO's recent rally stalled after Equifax (EFX 239.68, +1.69, +0.71%) countered its new Mortgage Direct License Program with a 50% price cut on VantageScore 4.0 and free access for customers purchasing FICO scores through 2026.

In total, six S&P 500 sectors would finish in positive territory, with the industrials (+0.9%), utilities (+0.7%), and consumer discretionary (+0.6%) sectors also capturing nice gains. 

Meanwhile, the energy sector (-0.6%) finished with the widest loss despite crude oil futures settling today's session $0.85 higher (+1.4%) at $62.57 per barrel. 

Major banking names weighed on the financials sector (-0.5%), while the consumer staples sector (-0.5%) gave back some of yesterday's gain, and the real estate sector (-0.5%) continued to slip this week. 

Though breadth figures slightly deteriorated throughout the afternoon as losses widened in the retreating sectors, advancers still held an edge at the close. Advancers outpaced decliners by a roughly 8-to-5 ratio on the NYSE and a nearly 2-to-1 clip on the Nasdaq. 

Smaller cap indices such as the Russell 2000 (+1.0%) and S&P Mid Cap 400 (+1.0%) outperformed today, garnering some buy-the-dip attention after facing pressure this week.

While today's action resulted in strong finishes and record highs for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite, it was relatively quiet from a news flow perspective. 

The release of the September FOMC minutes did little to the standing of the major averages or the market's expectations for further easing this year. 

The minutes showed that most officials believe it will likely be appropriate to ease policy further before year-end and also highlighted that markets viewed recent data and FOMC communications as signaling little change in the baseline outlook, though downside risks to the labor market were seen as having increased.

Tomorrow's jobless claims data is unlikely to be released amid the ongoing government shutdown, leaving the market lacking in macro developments, though earnings reports will begin to ramp up. 

U.S. Treasuries finished Wednesday on a slightly lower note after retreating from their morning highs. The 2-year note yield settled up one basis point to 3.58%, and the 10-year note yield finished unchanged at 4.13%. 

• Nasdaq Composite: +19.33% YTD
• S&P 500: +14.8% YTD
• Russell 2000: +11.4% YTD
• DJIA: +9.5% YTD
• S&P Mid Cap 400: +5.4% YTD

Reviewing today's economic data:

• The weekly MBA Mortgage Index fell 4.7% to follow last week's 12.7% drop. The Refinance Index was down 7.7% while the Purchase Index was down 1.2%.