Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] The stock market opened to a modest retreat as the S&P 500 (-0.2%), Nasdaq Composite (-0.1%), and DJIA (-0.2%) face similar early losses.

Nine S&P 500 sectors trade below their baselines, with the consumer discretionary (-0.5%) and consumer staples (-0.5%) sectors facing the widest losses.

Meanwhile, the communication services (+0.3%) sector holds an early gain due to Alphabet's (GOOG 207.87, +1.15, +0.56%) early advance, while the energy sector (+0.2%) also holds a modest gain. 

Just released, new home sales decreased 0.6% month-over-month in July to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 652,000 units (Briefing.com consensus 630,000) from a revised level of 656,000 (from 627,000) in June.