Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 (+0.8%), Nasdaq Composite (+1.2%), and DJIA (-0.2%) trade mostly higher just before midday, with strong tech leadership pushing the S&P 500 to a fresh record high.

At the center of the early tech enthusiasm is a massive move in Micron (MU 873.46, +122.46, +16.31%) after UBS raised its price target on the stock to $1,625 from $535 and reiterated its buy rating. The PHLX Semiconductor Index is up 4.8%, and the information technology sector (+1.7%) is the top-performing S&P 500 sector.

The industrials sector (+1.4%) holds a similar gain as electrical product names trade higher in sympathy with semiconductor stocks, while airlines such as United Airlines (UAL 105.60, +5.64, +5.64%) trade higher as crude oil slides this morning. Headlines suggest that progress in negotiations between the U.S. and Iran has been made, but the enthusiasm is somewhat tempered by news that the U.S. conducted "self-defense" strikes against Iran.

The energy sector (-1.4%) lags as oil retreats, while the consumer staples sector (-1.4%) also faces broad weakness.

Outside of the S&P 500, enthusiasm across growth-oriented pockets of the market amid falling Treasury yields has the Russell 2000 (+1.6%) and S&P Mid Cap 400 (+1.2%) outperforming.