Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] The major averages continue to hold decent gains an hour into today's session. 

The preliminary reading of the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment for March fell to 55.5 (Briefing.com consensus 55.7) from the final reading of 56.6 for February. In the same period a year ago, the index stood at 57.0.

The key takeaway from the report is that roughly half of the interviews were conducted before military action in Iran, which spurred a rally in energy prices. Therefore, the Consumer Sentiment Index is likely to be revised lower in the final reading for March.