Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 (-1.1%), Nasdaq Composite (-1.3%), and DJIA (-0.9%) are off their session lows following a modest increase in sector strength. 

The energy sector (+0.1%) maintains a slight gain for the day, while the consumer staples and health care sectors return to their flatlines. 

The next best performing S&P 500 sector is the materials sector with a 0.6% loss, and five sectors still hold losses wider than 1.0%, showing that there is a long way to go before substantial improvement at the index level. 

Gold futures (GC00-USA) surged $76.00, or 2.2%, to settle at a record $3,592.20 per ozt, with investors rotating into the metal as a rate cut at the September FOMC becomes increasingly certain.