Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] The S&P (-0.3%), Nasdaq Composite (-0.7%), and DJIA (-0.1%) sit lower shortly after the open with some pressure in tech weighing on the major averages. 

The top-weighted information technology sector (-2.0%) is firmly lower this morning, with Microsoft (MSFT 430.23, -51.40, -10.67%) facing a sharp selloff after the company topped earnings estimates but issued softer guidance. 

The consumer discretionary sector (-0.7%) is the only other sector to trade lower, with Tesla (TSLA 424.82, -6.64, -1.54%) facing pressure despite trading higher in the premarket following its earnings report. 

Meta Platforms (META 721.84, +53.10, +7.94%), however, impressed investors with its guidance, sending the stock sharply higher and boosting the communication services (+1.2%) sector. 

Elsewhere, the energy sector (+2.6%) holds the widest gain as the price of oil climbs $2.94 (+4.7%) to $66.15 per barrel.

Just released, factory orders decreased 2.7% month-over-month in November (Briefing.com consensus: 0.5%) following a 1.3% decrease in November.

November Wholesale Inventories increased by 0.2% (Briefing.com consensus 0.1%), with the prior month's increase downwardly revised to 0.2% from 0.5%.