Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] The stock market is off to a quieter start following yesterday's record-setting rally, with the S&P 500 (flat), Nasdaq Composite (+0.2%), and DJIA (-0.1%) currently mixed. Modest opening gains secured fresh record intraday highs for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite.

Sector strength tilts lower, but some resilience across some of the market's largest names is helping keep things steady at the index level.

The consumer discretionary sector (+0.4%) is one of just three S&P 500 sectors that trade higher as shares of Tesla (TSLA 413.08, +14.55, +3.65%) rise after Reuters reported the company's China-produced EV sales increased 36% in April.

Meanwhile, Microsoft (MSFT 424.20, +10.24, +2.47%) holds a similar gain as software stocks benefit from a solid round of earnings results, with Datadog (DDOG 185.13, +41.42, +28.82%), Fortinet (FTNT 109.97, +20.02, +22.26%), and others moving sharply higher.

The iShares GS Software ETF is up 3.2%, which helps the information technology sector (+0.4%) stay in positive territory despite the PHLX Semiconductor Index (-1.9%) giving back some of yesterday's strength.

Losses are relatively modest, with the exception of the energy sector (-2.6%), which continues to slide as oil deepens this week's losses amid optimism around a U.S.-Iran peace agreement. Crude oil is currently down $3.91 (-4.1%) to $91.17 per barrel.

Just released, construction spending increased 0.6% in March (Briefing.com consensus 0.4%) from a 0.3% decrease in February.