Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] Solid tech gains have the S&P 500 (+0.7%) and Nasdaq Composite (+1.2%) charting fresh record highs this morning, while the DJIA (+0.2%) holds a more modest gain.

Strength in the broader market has a positive tilt, but the top-weighted information technology sector (+1.8%) is a clear standout, as investors rotate back into semiconductor names after yesterday's weakness.

The PHLX Semiconductor Index is up 3.6%, with memory names such as Micron (MU 709.13, +62.66, +9.69%) outperforming while NVIDIA (NVDA 217.69, +6.19, +2.93%) provides solid leadership.

True to the recent trend, software stocks are mostly lower, with the IGV down 2.8%. However, Akamai Tech (AKAM 135.82, +19.13, +16.39%) is the best-performing S&P 500 component after turning in a mixed earnings report that featured an announcement that a leading frontier model provider has committed to $1.8 billion over seven years for CIS.

Tesla (TSLA 427.76, +15.97, +3.88%) also holds a nice gain this morning, pushing the consumer discretionary sector (+0.6%) higher. The Vanguard Mega Cap Growth ETF is up 0.8%.

Just released, the preliminary University of Michigan consumer Sentiment Index checked in at 48.5 (Briefing.com consensus 50.5) from the final April reading of 49.8.

Wholesale inventories increased 1.3% in March (Briefing.com consensus 1.4%), from the revised previous increase of 0.9% (from 0.8%).