Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 (-0.10%) is in a familiar second place on Friday afternoon.

Briefly, S&P 500 constituents Steel Dynamics (STLD 124.00, -5.11, -3.93%), Cognizant Tech (CTSH 76.07, -3.07, -3.88%), and Albemarle (ALB 57.24, -2.16, -3.64%) dot the bottom of the standings. STLD slips as investors focus on near-term margin pressure and soft steel demand flagged by Morgan Stanley and KeyBanc analyst notes, while fresh Canadian tariff threats on U.S. steel imports add to trade uncertainty, weighing further on sentiment. For its part, consulting firm CTSH falls in sympathy to Accenture's (ACN 285.09, -21.29, -6.95%) declines post results, 

Meanwhile, Builders FirstSource (BLDR 113.25, +6.40, +5.99%) is one of today's top gain getters, rallying in sympathy with GMS (GMS 100.81, +19.80, +24.44%) after reports of a potential bidding war involving Home Depot (HD 350.88, +3.85, +1.11%) and QXO (QXO 24.48, +1.98, +8.80%) for the building-products distributor. Investors are betting that industry consolidation could elevate BLDR's strategic value.