Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 (-1.1%), Nasdaq Composite (-1.6%), and DJIA (-0.5%) face considerable weakness across mega-cap names today, pushing the major averages into negative territory for the week. 

The November PPI (0.2%; Briefing.com consensus: 0.2%) and Core PPI (0.0%; Briefing.com consensus: 0.2%) releases saw both indexes rise on a year-over-year basis to 3.0% from 2.8% and 2.9%, respectively, reinforcing the market's view that it will likely need to wait several more months before the next potential rate cut. This follows yesterday's December CPI release, in which the headline figure (0.3%; Briefing.com consensus: 0.3%) and core CPI (0.2%; Briefing.com consensus: 0.3%) came in largely as expected.

While neither report meaningfully altered the policy outlook, the absence of a downside inflation surprise, combined with equity prices sitting at record highs, has prompted another pullback in stocks today, albeit a sharper one. 

In particular, mega-cap names are facing the brunt of the weakness today. The Vanguard Mega Cap Growth ETF is down 2.0% today, which places it into negative territory for the year.

The top-weighted information technology sector (-2.1%) holds the widest loss as a majority of its components trade lower, including NVIDIA (NVDA 181.64, -4.17, -2.24%) and Microsoft (MSFT 461.05, -9.62, -2.04%).

The consumer discretionary sector (-1.9%) is not far ahead, with Amazon (AMZN 236.95, -5.65, -2.33%) and Tesla (TSLA 435.69, -11.51, -2.57%) providing weak leadership. 

Outside of the mega-cap realm, the financials sector (-0.8%) continues to face pressure on multiple fronts this week. Today's main selling catalyst comes in the form of a mixed slate of earnings reports from major banking names before the open. Wells Fargo (WFC 88.54, -5.02, -5.37%) is a notable laggard after missing on revenues, while Bank of America (BAC 51.88, -2.66, -4.89%) and Citigroup (C 111.01, -5.29, -4.55%) also move lower despite beating estimates. 

Amid the weakness in growth names today, the consumer staples (+1.0%), utilities (+0.6%), and health care (+0.1%) sectors trade higher. 

Meanwhile, the energy sector (+2.3%) is the top gainer, supported by a $0.79 (+1.3%) increase in the price of oil to $61.72 per barrel. 

The real estate sector (+0.5%) also holds a modest gain. 

Outside of the S&P 500, the Russell 2000 (+0.1%) and S&P Mid Cap 400 (-0.2%) sit mixed, though both considerably outperform the major averages again today. 

While the mega-caps have not outperformed so far this year, the narrative of broadening leadership focused more around the outperformance of small-cap and cyclical stocks, which were posting hefty gains in the first couple weeks of 2026. Today's session, however, reflects a broader risk-off tone, as selling pressure in mega-cap growth names has been strong enough to weigh on the major averages despite continued relative resilience in smaller-cap and defensive areas of the market.

Reviewing today's data:

• Weekly MBA Mortgage Applications Index 28.5%; Prior -9.7%
• November Retail Sales 0.6% (Briefing.com consensus 0.4%); Prior was revised to -0.1% from 0.0%, November Retail Sales, ex-auto 0.5% (Briefing.com consensus 0.3%); Prior was revised to 0.2% from 0.4%
  • The key takeaway from the report is that retail sales rebounded smartly in November after the end of the government shutdown, driven by increases across most discretionary spending categories.
• November PPI 0.2% (Briefing.com consensus 0.2%); Prior was revised to 0.1% from 0.3%, November Core PPI 0.0% (Briefing.com consensus 0.2%); Prior was revised to 0.3% from 0.1%
  • The key takeaway from the report is that PPI and core-PPI both increased on a year-over-year basis to 3.0% from 2.8% and 2.9%, respectively, which is to say they moved in the wrong direction to create a true sense of inflation calm and a seeming rate-cut guarantee.
• Q3 Current Account Balance -$226.4 bln; Prior was revised to -$249.2 bln from -$251.3 bln
• December Existing Home Sales 4.35 mln (Briefing.com consensus 4.15 mln); Prior was revised to 4.14 mln from 4.13 mln
  • The key takeaway from the report is that home sales in December increased across all regions, leading to the strongest increase in seasonally adjusted sales in nearly three years despite tight inventory levels.
• October Business Inventories 0.3%; Prior was revised to 0.3% from 0.2%