Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] It has been a tightly contested trade to this point. The S&P 500 has operated in an 18-point range, with 5,994 marking the low and 6,012 marking its high.

While today's trade hasn't been overly exciting, it has been imbued with a continuing positive bias. Eight of the 11 S&P 500 sectors are higher, with gains ranging from 0.01% to 0.8%, and advancing stocks have a comfortable lead over declining stocks at the NYSE and Nasdaq.

There is also more of a pro-cyclical orientation, notwithstanding today's relative underperformance by the financial sector (-0.6%), as the U.S. and China conduct trade talks in London.

WTI crude futures are up 0.4% to $64.81/bbl and copper futures are up 1.6% to $4.92/lb.