Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] The Nasdaq Composite (+0.3%) has widened its slight opening gain, while the S&P 500 remains flat and the DJIA (-0.3%) holds a loss.

Though most sectors trade lower, an uptick in the information technology sector (+0.4%) supports the Nasdaq Composite's modest early advance. 

Apple (AAPL 233.81, +3.78, +1.64%) and Microsoft (MSFT 506.66, +5.66, +1.13%) make nice early moves, while Micron (MU 156.02, +5.45, +3.62%) continues to show strength after yesterday's rally. Despite the gains in Micron, semiconductor names are off to a sluggish start, with the PHLX Semiconductor Index up 0.1%.

The preliminary University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment reading for September checked in at 55.4 (Briefing.com consensus: 59.2) versus the final reading of 58.2 for August. In the same period a year ago, the index stood at 70.1.

The key takeaway from the report is that the pullback in consumer sentiment was paced by fading economic views among lower-income and middle-income consumers.