Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite now trades on its flatline following an improvement in the information technology sector (+0.1%). Meanwhile, the S&P 500 (-0.2%) and DJIA (-0.4%) are little changed from previous levels.

Within the technology sector, NVIDIA (NVDA 179.03, +1.04, +0.58%) trades modestly higher ahead of its earnings release Wednesday afternoon, which will be one of the most anticipated events of the week. 

Mega-cap names as a cohort are faring decently in the early going, with the Vanguard Mega Cap Growth ETF up 0.1%.

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 an upwardly revised 656,000 (from 627,000) in June. On a year-over-year basis, new home sales were down 8.2%.

The key takeaway from the report is that the pace of sales was sluggish, owed in part to the upward revision for June. However, the affordability constraint associated with higher mortgage rates and a reduced supply of lower-priced homes was evident, as sales were lackluster month-over-month despite a drop in median and average selling prices.