Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 (+0.6%) and Nasdaq Composite (+1.3%) chart new session highs, while the DJIA (-0.2%) remains below its flatline.

Gains in the mega-cap space continue to push the communication services (+3.3%), information technology (+1.0%), and consumer discretionary (+0.9%) sectors higher, while the rest of the market is largely left out of the advance. 

The real estate sector (+0.1%) has managed to claw above its opening level after finishing yesterday's session as one of the worst-performing S&P 500 sectors. 

Factory orders declined 1.3% month-over-month in July (Briefing.com consensus: -1.4%) following a 4.8% decline in June. Excluding transportation, factory orders increased 0.6% month-over-month following a 0.4% increase in June. Shipments of manufactured goods jumped 0.9% on the heels of a 0.6% increase in June.

The key takeaway from the report is that the weakness in factory orders in July was concentrated in the transportation space, so the weakness was not as acute as the headline might suggest. New orders for primary metals (+1.6%), machinery (+1.9%), computers and electronic products (+1.2%), and electrical equipment, appliances, and components (+1.9%) were all up in a good sign for factory order activity.