Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 (-0.7%), Nasdaq Composite (-1.1%), and DJIA (-0.1%) trade in negative territory after spending most of the morning mixed. A recent expansion of losses in tech and mega-cap names sent the S&P 500 below its 50-day moving average (6,766.98). 

The Vanguard Mega Cap Growth ETF is down 1.2%, which highlights the influence the market's largest names have over the market-weighted S&P 500 (-0.7%), as the S&P 500 Equal Weighted Index (+0.1%) remains slightly higher amid relatively solid participation in the broader market. 

The slide in technology has weighed on the broader market, pushing breadth to near-even levels after an earlier positive showing and leaving five S&P 500 sectors in negative territory. 

Losses are widest in the information technology (-1.9%) and communication services (-1.8%) as prominent mega-cap names such as NVIDIA (NVDA 170.87, -6.85, -3.85%), Oracle (ORCL 178.51, -10.14, -5.38%), and Alphabet (GOOG 299.59, -8.14, -2.65%) steadily chart session lows. 

Meanwhile, the energy sector (+1.3%) remains undeterred by tech's weakness, trading higher as the price of oil rises $0.97 (+1.8%) to $58.10 per barrel. President Trump has ordered a blockade of sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela.

Outside of the S&P 500, the small-cap Russell 2000 (-0.1%) and S&P Mid Cap 400 (+0.1%) are outperforming their larger-cap counterparts, perhaps garnering some rotational buying interest amid the renewed tech pullback.