Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] The stock market opened to decent gains after the January Employment Situation report surprised to the upside, painting an optimistic picture of the U.S. growth outlook. The S&P 500 (+0.3%), Nasdaq Composite (+0.2%), and DJIA (+0.3%) are up similarly, while the Russell 2000 (+0.6%) and S&P Mid Cap 400 (+0.6%) slightly outperform. 

Strength is relatively broad, with eight S&P 500 sectors holding early gains. The energy sector (+1.9%) holds the widest gain as the price of oil increases $1.65 (+2.6%) to $65.61 per barrel. 

Several other cyclical sectors, including the industrials (+1.4%) and materials (+1.2%) sectors, also hold solid gains. 

Meanwhile, the information technology sector (+0.5%) is higher, though already considerably off of its opening highs. The PHLX Semiconductor Index (+1.9%) is off to a solid start as memory storage names such as Sandisk (SNDK 594.01, +52.37, +9.67%), Micron (MU 398.05, +24.80, +6.64%), and Western Digital (WDC 275.98, +13.42, +5.11%) rebound from yesterday's weakness. 

Elsewhere, the financials (-0.5%), communication services (-0.5%), and health care (-0.2%) sectors all see a continuation of weakness from the previous session.