Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 (+0.8%), Nasdaq Composite (+1.0%), and DJIA (+0.8%) are higher across the board amid a retreat in oil prices and broad participation. 

There is a geopolitical component to today's rebound, with some lingering optimism stemming from reports that the U.S. sent Iran a 15-point peace plan to end the war. Reports suggest that Iran has rejected the proposal and issued its own demands for ending the conflict, though that has done little to temper today's gains across the stock market or the retreat in oil prices. 

Currently, crude oil is down $2.13 (-2.3%) to $90.22 per barrel. The energy sector (-0.2%) trades lower, but strength is broad elsewhere, with the other ten S&P 500 sectors sporting gains. 

A rebound in mega-cap and tech names contributes to the index-level gains after a weak showing yesterday.

The Vanguard Mega Cap Growth ETF (+1.0%) has reclaimed yesterday's loss, with Amazon (AMZN 212.32, +5.08, +2.45%) and Tesla (TSLA 389.70, +6.67, +1.74%) providing solid leadership for the consumer discretionary sector (+1.4%). 

Elsewhere in the sector, cruise lines outperform amid the lower price of oil, while homebuilders lag after KB Home (KBH 50.63, -2.31, -4.36%) missed earnings estimates. 

NVIDIA (NVDA 179.06, +3.86, +2.20%) is another mega-cap standout and one of several large chipmakers that trade higher today. Advanced Micro Devices (AMD 218.42, +13.05, +6.35%) and Intel (INTC 47.52, +3.46, +7.85%) trade even higher, and the PHLX Semiconductor Index is up 1.4%. 

The gain would likely be wider if not for pressure across memory storage names such as Sandisk (SNDK 673.50, -28.98, -4.13%) and Micron (MU 378.54, -16.99, -4.30%) after Google Research introduced TurboQuant, which it claims to dramatically reduce AI memory requirements.

Meanwhile, the materials sector (+1.7%) posts the widest gain, with strong gains across container and packaging names and a rebound in gold prices sending Newmont Corporation (NEM 102.27, +3.25, +3.28%) higher. 

The health care sector (+1.2%) is also charting session highs, boosted by solid gains across Moderna (MRNA 54.13, +2.79, +5.43%) and other biotechnology names. 

Outside of the S&P 500, the Russell 2000 (+1.3%) outperforms, while the S&P Mid Cap 400 (+0.6%) performs in line with the major averages. 

All told, the market is off to a strong start today, supported by easing oil prices and broad-based buying interest. That said, the major averages remain pinned below their respective 200-day moving averages, suggesting a degree of underlying caution as investors continue to monitor developments surrounding Iran.

Reviewing today's data:

• Weekly MBA Mortgage Applications Index -10.5%; Prior -10.9%
• Q4 Current Account Balance -$190.7 bln (Briefing.com consensus -$242.3 bln); Prior was revised to -$239.1 bln from -$226.4 bln
• February Import Prices 1.3%; Prior was revised to 0.6% from 0.2%
• February Import Prices ex-oil 1.1%; Prior was revised to 0.8% from 0.5%
• February Export Prices 1.5%; Prior 0.6%
• February Export Prices ex-ag. 1.7%; Prior 0.7%