Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] The stock market had a flattish opening, with the S&P 500 the Nasdaq Composite, and the DJIA all currently unchanged for the day.

Sector strength is almost evenly split, as five S&P 500 sectors trade in positive territory while six trade in negative territory.

Gains and losses are modest so far, with the health care sector (+0.5%) leading the advancers while the communications services sector (-0.7%) holds the widest loss.

Alphabet (GOOG 206.91, -2.25, -1.08%) holds an early loss as mega-cap stocks see relative weakness in the early going. 

While the information technology sector (-0.1%) holds a modest loss, semiconductor stocks are performing well in the early going, lifting the PHLX Semiconductor Index 0.8%.

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD 166.46, +3.10, +1.90%) is an early contributor, trading higher following an upgrade to Buy from Hold at Truist.

Just released, the Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index fell to 97.4 in August (Briefing.com consensus 96.3) from an upwardly revised 98.7 (from 97.2) in July.