Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] Another solid session for semiconductor stocks is helping push the S&P 500 (+0.7%), Nasdaq Composite (+1.3%), and DJIA (+0.3%) higher despite today's relatively light news flow and low trading volume.

Firm gains across major chipmakers such as Advanced Micro Devices (AMD 581.33, +41.84, +7.76%) and Intel (INTC 141.19, +9.47, +7.19%) have the PHLX Semiconductor Index (+3.5%) and the broader information technology sector (+2.2%) extending yesterday's advance. Mega-cap stocks outside of the semiconductor space are not as strong across the board as they were yesterday, but the Vanguard Mega Cap Growth ETF (+1.5%) has steadily ticked higher throughout the session.

Improvements across the group are helping the consumer discretionary (+0.4%) and communication services (+0.2%) sectors recover after spending most of the morning in negative territory.

Outside of the tech space, action is mixed. The S&P 500 Equal Weight Index sits on its flat line, market breadth is nearly even on both the NYSE and Nasdaq, and five of the 11 S&P 500 sectors trade higher.

The industrials sector (+0.9%) is another relative standout as its electrical equipment names continue to move in lockstep with semiconductor stocks, while the materials sector (+0.7%) bounces back from yesterday's weaker showing.

Meanwhile, the real estate sector (-1.4%) continues to be a laggard so far this week. Digital Realty Trust (DLR 182.03, -8.55, -4.49%) trades lower after agreeing to acquire a Blackstone (BX 115.94, +1.06, +0.92%) owned stake in three fully leased Northern Virginia data centers for $7.8 billion.

Elsewhere, the defensive consumer staples (-1.1%), health care (-1.0%), and utilities (-0.5%) sectors also lag for the second consecutive session as semiconductors and select mega-cap technology names outperform.

While today's session has been quieter from a corporate news perspective, it has featured a clear continuation of yesterday's return to mega-cap technology leadership. As a result, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite have reclaimed nearly all of last week's losses, while enough strength elsewhere in the market has kept the DJIA moving higher as well.

Reviewing today's data:

• April FHFA Housing Price Index -0.1% (Briefing.com consensus 0.2%); Prior was revised to 0.2% from 0.1%
• April S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Index 1.1% (Briefing.com consensus 0.9%); Prior was revised to 0.9% from 0.8%
• June Chicago PMI 56.7 (Briefing.com consensus 60.0); Prior 62.7
• June Consumer Confidence 91.2 (Briefing.com consensus 94.2); Prior was revised to 90.6 from 93.1
  • The key takeaway from the report is that the June increase followed a downward revision to May's reading, so there is some persistent caution in confidence as the expectations index remains below a level that has traditionally signaled an upcoming recession.
• May JOLTS - Job Opening 7.594 mln; Prior was revised to 7.585 mln from 7.618 mln