Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 (+0.1%), Nasdaq Composite (+0.3%), and DJIA (+0.4%) are modestly higher this morning, though already well off of their best early levels. 

Strength is led by several of yesterday's underperformers, including the top-weighted information technology sector (+0.7%). After sliding nearly 5% yesterday, the iShares GS Software ETF is higher as many of yesterday's worst-hit names see at least some modest dip buying. 

Elsewhere, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD 210.00, +13.40, +6.82%) holds a solid gain after announcing a partnership with Meta Platforms (META 634.99, -2.26, -0.35%), while Apple (AAPL 273.88, +7.70, +2.89%) is a "magnificent seven" standout amid reports that the company is looking to increase domestic production. 

The consumer discretionary sector (+0.8%) is up similarly following yesterday's tariff-induced volatility. Most of the sector's components trade higher, with a few earnings standouts in the mix. Home Depot (HD 388.34, +11.36, +3.01%) is up after an earnings beat while Domino's Pizza (DPZ 411.95, +11.59, +2.90%) expands on yesterday's post earnigns strength. 

Meanwhile, the financial sector (-0.6%) continues to lag. There are some modest gains across some of the financial publishing and asset manager names that have been particularly weak as of late, but broader losses in the sector, including underperformance of major banking names, keep the sector in negative territory. 

Just released, the Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index increased to 91.2 in February (Briefing.com consensus: 86.0) from a prior reading of 84.5 in January.

December wholesale inventories increased 0.2% (Briefing.com consensus: 0.2%).