Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 (flat), Nasdaq Composite (+0.2%), and DJIA (-0.1%) sit mixed shortly after the open, with a modest opening gain enough to establish another record high for the S&P 500.

Strength is mixed early in the session, with five S&P 500 sectors trading higher. The health care sector (+1.2%) is off to another solid start as its pharmaceutical and biotech names trade higher, including Eli Lilly (LLY 1106.11, +42.07, +3.95%), which is in advanced talks to acquire Ventyx Biosciences (VTYX 13.82, +3.76, +37.46%), according to The Wall Street Journal. 

The communication services sector (+0.7%) is another top mover, with Alphabet (GOOG 320.43, +5.88, +1.87%) recovering from some weakness in previous sessions. 

Meanwhile, losses are fairly modest with the exception of the materials sector (-1.1%), which is pressured by falling metals prices, and the financials sector (-1.0%), which faces losses across investment managers and major banking names ahead of a busy earnings week next week. 

The ISM Services PMI increased to 54.4% in December (Briefing.com consensus 52.2%) from 52.6% in November.

Factory orders decreased 1.3% month-over-month in October (Briefing.com consensus -1.0%) from a prior increase of 0.2%.

The November JOLTS Job Openings report showed 7.146 million job openings, down from the revised prior level of 7.449 million (from 7.670 million).