Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 (+0.6%), Nasdaq Composite (+1.0%), and DJIA (+0.2%) all set new record high levels this morning as the stock market advances in response to yesterday's FOMC meeting. 

Mega-cap tech names traded higher in the pre-market, hinting at today's rally. NVIDIA (NVDA 176.00, +5.71, +3.35%) was an early standout, with its $5 billion equity stake in Intel (INTC 31.51, +6.61, +26.54%) sending the beleaguered chipmaker sharply higher and providing support to a 3.9% advance in the PHLX Semiconductor Index. 

The broader information technology sector holds a 1.5% gain which is the best among the seven advancing S&P 500 sectors.

Losses are relatively modest for today's laggards, with only the energy (-0.8%) and consumer staples (-0.7%) sectors holding losses wider than 0.5%. 

The market's optimism around further easing from the Fed has been especially beneficial to smaller-cap names, as the Russell 2000 (+1.4%) outperforms while the S&P Mid Cap 400 (+0.7%) also holds a healthy gain.