Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] A broad-based "buy the dip" disposition pushed the stock market to opening gains following Friday's retreat, with a steady sideways drift keeping the major averages at their session highs. 

Ten S&P 500 sectors trade in positive territory, as only the energy sector (-0.3%) faces a modest loss in response to a $0.94 decrease in crude oil prices to $66.39 per barrel, a change of 1.4%.

Meanwhile, the communication services (+2.2%), information technology (+2.1%), and utilities (+1.5%) sectors lead the advance.

While today's buying interest is broad-based and includes stocks of all sizes, mega-cap names are performing particularly well, with the Vanguard Mega Cap Growth ETF up 1.8%.

Shares of Tesla (TSLA 307.94, +5.31, +1.8%) traded higher before the open after the company awarded CEO Elon Musk 96 million new shares of stock as part of a lucrative payment package that looks to keep him in a senior position. 

Apple (AAPL 204.20, +1.82, +0.9%) also received a headline catalyst after Bloomberg reported that the company is seeking to develop an in-house AI similar to OpenAI's ChatGPT.

Mega-cap names certainly contributed to the early buzz in today's market, but smaller-cap stocks are performing in line with the broader market.

The Russell 2000 is up 1.5%, and the S&P Mid Cap 400 is up 1.0%. For comparison, the market-weighted S&P 500 is up 1.3%, while the equal-weighted S&P 500 is up 1.0%.

The Nasdaq Composite (+1.8%) is the best performing of the major averages, while the DJIA (+1.2%) trails modestly. 

Following the immediate pop after the open, a lack of headlines has kept the major averages trading in a tight range from their early highs.

On the trade front, the EU has announced they will postpone their reciprocal measures for six months, and President Trump has threatened to further raise tariffs on India if they do not cease to buy Russian oil, but neither of these developments has moved the market. 

Volatility is unsurprisingly low today, with the CBOE Volatility Index down 11.7% to 18.00.

While the first half of today's session marks the beginning of a healthy rebound from last week's slide, the market will have to maintain its early gains throughout the session if it is to restore confidence and once again challenge record high figures.