Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 (flat), Nasdaq Composite (-0.6%), and DJIA (+0.7%) have bounced off of their session lows as the information technology sector (-0.8%) has pared losses while the broader market trades mostly higher. 

The ISM Services PMI checked in at 53.8% in January (Briefing.com consensus: 53.7%), unchanged from a downwardly revised 53.8% (from 54.4%) in December. The dividing line between expansion and contraction is 50.0%, so the January reading reflects services sector activity growing at the same pace as the prior month.

The key takeaway from the report is that activity in the services sector grew at a steady pace in January at the same time prices paid for materials and services increased.