Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] The move in Microsoft (MSFT 448.98, +58.45, +14.97%) today is truly extraordinary, considering the size of this company. There has been a massive shift in fund flows that has turned the technical tide for Microsoft in a big way, as it now sits above both its 50-day and 200-day moving averages.

Microsoft is effectively responsible for the Dow's gains, but others, namely Amazon (AMZN 237.59, +10.94, +4.83%), Boeing (BA 220.58, +6.57, +3.07%), Caterpillar (CAT 821.05, +38.34, +4.90%), Goldman Sachs (GS 1015.31, +34.56, +3.52%), NVIDIA (NVDA 196.82, +6.81, +3.58%), and JPMorgan Chase (JPM 348.80, +4.09, +1.19%), are pulling some pricing weight as well.

Market breadth overall, however, indicates that the early gains for the major indices are not broad-based. Breadth at the NYSE is even, whereas advancers lead decliners at the Nasdaq by a 5-to-3 margin.

For the most part, gains are accruing to tech stocks today. Eight of the 11 S&P 500 sectors are lower today, but when the most heavily weighted sector—information technology—is up 5.0%, it is more than capable of compensating for the weakness seen elsewhere.