Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] The stock market is off to another good start this morning, with the S&P 500 (+0.6%), Nasdaq Composite (+0.6%), and DJIA (+0.7%) extending their week-to-date gains to roughly 2.0%. 

Strength is once again broad, with all eleven S&P 500 sectors holding early gains. 

The energy sector (+1.5%) leads the advance amid a modest bounce in oil prices today, with oil hovering around the $95 per barrel mark.

The financials sector (+1.2%) is near the top of the leaderboard after outperforming in yesterday's action as well. Major banking names hold solid gains, while asset managers such as Apollo Global Management (APO 108.45, +5.00, +4.83%) continue to rebound from recent weakness. 

Mega-cap and tech stocks are also seeing an extension of yesterday's strength, with the consumer discretionary (+1.0%) and information technology (+0.5%) sectors holding solid gains. The Vanguard Mega Cap Growth ETF (+0.7%) is up similarly. 

Just released, pending home sales increased 1.8% month-over-month in February (Briefing.com consensus -0.8%), from a downwardly revised 1.0% decrease in January (from -0.8%).