Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 (-0.2%), Nasdaq Composite (+0.2%), and DJIA (-0.6%) have spent the first half of today's session trading in a relatively tight range near their unchanged levels.

It is worth noting that the S&P 500 moved into negative territory following a New York Post interview with President Trump in which he said the U.S. military is preparing to resume strikes on Iran if peace talks fail this weekend. However, geopolitical headlines have been relatively quiet compared to recent sessions as the U.S. and Iran prepare for talks, with crude oil holding around the $98 per barrel mark.

Today's economic data reinforced the muted geopolitical disposition, as the headline March CPI reading (0.9%; Briefing.com consensus: 0.7%) came in hotter-than-expected due to the surge in energy prices, while the core reading (0.2%; Briefing.com consensus: 0.3%) was better than feared. Additionally, the preliminary reading for the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index for April fell to 47.6 (Briefing.com consensus: 52.0), though the market had a muted response to the report as nearly all responses to the survey were captured before the two-week ceasefire agreement announced on April 7.

Strength is mixed in the broader market, but the top-weighted information technology sector (+0.7%) holds the widest gain, which helps prevent further losses at the index level. Semiconductor stocks are seeing an extension of recent strength, with the PHLX Semiconductor Index up 2.3%.

Part of that enthusiasm is attributed to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM 372.75, +7.26, +1.99%) reporting upside Q1 revenues, which has resulted in solid gains across large chipmakers such as NVIDIA (NVDA 188.43, +4.52, +2.46%) and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD 245.14, +8.50, +3.59%). Super Micro Computer (SMCI 25.22, +2.00, +8.62%) and Coherent (COHR 308.68, +24.51, +8.63%) trade even higher and are among the top-performing S&P 500 components.

Once again, those gains seemingly come at the expense of software names, with the iShares GS Software ETF down 3.0%. In particular, Akamai Tech (AKAM 93.39, -16.22, -14.80%) is the worst-performing S&P 500 component as investors react to concerns sparked by Anthropic's launch of its Managed Agents platform, which is intensifying fears around AI-driven disruption of traditional SaaS and cloud workflows.

Gains are more modest elsewhere as the materials sector (+0.5%) is the only other S&P 500 sector to hold a gain of 0.5% or wider.

Meanwhile, the defensive consumer staples (-1.3%) and health care (-1.1%) sectors lag, while the financials sector (-1.2%) holds a similar loss as insurer names underperform and the energy sector (-1.0%) trades lower amid the stabilization in oil prices.

Outside of the S&P 500, the Russell 2000 (-0.5%) and S&P Mid Cap 400 (-0.4%) hold modest losses.

Overall, the market is holding in a narrow range as solid semiconductor strength helps offset weakness in cyclicals and defensives, keeping the major averages little changed. With geopolitical developments in a holding pattern and inflation data largely in line at the core level, investors appear content to await further clarity from this weekend's U.S.-Iran talks.

Reviewing today's data:

• March CPI 0.9% (Briefing.com consensus 0.7%); Prior 0.3%, March Core CPI 0.2% (Briefing.com consensus 0.3%); Prior 0.2%
  • The key takeaway from the report is that headline inflation was driven by the index for energy, which rose 10.9% in March, and although core inflation was seemingly subdued in March, the concern is that the energy price shock will bleed through more to core inflation in April.
• February Factory Orders 0.0% (Briefing.com consensus 0.5%); Prior was revised to 0.0% from 0.1%
  • The key takeaway from the report is that factory orders weren't as flat as the headline suggests. On the contrary, they were quite strong when the volatile transportation component was excluded.
• April Univ. of Michigan Consumer Sentiment - Prelim 47.6 (Briefing.com consensus 52.0); Prior 53.3
  • The key takeaway from the report is that the fallout from the Iran conflict was the driver of the big drop in sentiment and big rise in year-ahead inflation expectations in April (note: nearly all responses to the survey were captured before the two-week ceasefire agreement announced on April 7).