Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 (+0.3%), Nasdaq Composite (+0.3%), and DJIA (+0.1%) trade with slight gains amid relatively muted action this morning. 

The preliminary University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment reading for January increased to 54.0 (Briefing.com consensus: 53.0) from the final reading of 52.9 for December. In the same period a year ago, the index stood at 71.7.

The key takeaway from the report is that consumer sentiment, while improved a bit, is still guarded due to lingering concerns about high prices and softening labor markets.