Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 (flat), Nasdaq Composite (-0.1%), and DJIA (+0.1%) continue to tick steadily lower, as just four S&P 500 sectors remain in positive territory. 

The consumer discretionary sector (-0.7%) now holds one of the widest losses as Amazon (AMZN 228.70, -3.68, -1.58%) sits just above its 50-day moving average (228.15).

Factory orders increased 0.2% month-over-month in September (Briefing.com consensus 0.2%) after rising a revised 1.3% (from 1.4%) in August. Excluding transportation, factory orders also increased 0.2% after dipping a revised 0.1% (from +0.1%) in August. Shipments of manufactured goods were unchanged after decreasing a revised 0.3% in August (from -0.1%).

The key takeaway from the report is that orders increased again in September despite a big jump in August with new orders for nondefense capital goods excluding aircraft, which is a proxy for business spending, jumping 0.9% for the second month in a row.