Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 (+0.2%), Nasdaq Composite (flat), and DJIA (+0.4%) are mostly higher just before midday as a sharp pullback across chipmaker names is outweighed by strength in the broader market and impressive gains across several other mega-cap tech stocks.

Chipmaker and other AI-infrastructure stocks are retreating after two consecutive days of strength, with nrecent leaders such as Corning (GLW 223.20, -32.23, -12.62%) and Sandisk (SNDK 2072.27, -201.46, -8.86%) facing double-digit losses. The PHLX Semiconductor Index is down 4.6%, though the broader information technology sector (-1.0%) has cut its earlier loss in half as software names soar higher (the iShares Expanded Tech-Software ETF is up 3.1%) while Apple (AAPL 295.15, +5.79, +2.00%) and Microsoft (MSFT 385.84, +12.82, +3.44%) both hold solid gains.

Similarly, mega-cap stocks outside of the technology sector trend mostly higher, with Meta Platforms (META 625.66, +62.37, +11.07%) a notable standout after Bloomberg reported the company will build a cloud business to sell access to AI compute. The communication services (+3.2%) and consumer discretionary (+1.5%) sectors both trade firmly higher, helping offset losses in the information technology sector. The Vanguard Mega Cap Growth ETF is up 0.6% despite the weakness across semiconductor names.

Elsewhere, the defensive utilities (-1.2%) and consumer staples (-0.6%) sectors continue to lag while the financials sector (+2.1%) outperforms, with Coinbase Global (COIN 161.44, +15.25, +10.43%) and Robinhood Markets (HOOD 107.71, +7.43, +7.41%) leading the way amid a bounce in the price of Bitcoin.

Outside of the S&P 500, the Russell 2000 (+0.5%) has notched another all-time high, while the S&P Mid Cap 400 (-0.2%) trades modestly lower.