Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 (+0.5%), Nasdaq Composite (+0.7%), and DJIA (+0.7%) continue to trade higher this morning amid broad strength. 

The top-weighted information technology sector (+0.9%) adds to the early strength, with memory storage names such as Sandisk (SNDK 658.00, +81.75, +14.19%) and Western Digital (WDC 265.43, +15.20, +6.07%) rebounding from a selloff late last week. 

The ISM Manufacturing Index checked in at 52.6% for January (Briefing.com consensus: 48.3%), up from 47.9% in December. The dividing line between expansion and contraction is 50.0%, so the January figure suggests manufacturing activity in January pivoted from contraction to growth.

The key takeaway from the report is that activity in the manufacturing sector revved up in January, breaking a streak of eleven straight months in a state of contraction, paced by the highest level in the new orders index since February 2022.