Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 (+0.9%), Nasdaq Composite (+1.2%), and DJIA (+1.4%) are off to a solid start to the week, with mega-cap tech leading the market higher against a backdrop of broad strength amid retreating oil prices.

Nine S&P 500 sectors trade higher, with the communication services sector (+4.2%) out in front as Meta Platforms (META 589.33, +32.62, +5.86%) and Alphabet (GOOG 372.33, +15.68, +4.40%) continue to build upon last week's momentum. A similar gain in Amazon (AMZN 284.14, +12.56, +4.62%) pushes the consumer discretionary sector (+2.8%) firmly higher as well, and the Vanguard Mega Cap Growth ETF is up 1.3%.

The early gains are somewhat limited by opening weakness across semiconductor names, with the PHLX Semiconductor Index down 2.3%, weighing on the information technology sector (+0.1%).

Elsewhere, the energy sector (-1.1%) is the only S&P 500 sector with a loss wider than 0.5% as crude oil retreats toward the $79 per barrel mark.

On the data front, the final reading of the July S&P Global U.S. Manufacturing PMI expanded to 53.9, from the prior reading of 53.8.

Construction spending decreased 0.1% month-over-month in June (Briefing.com consensus: 0.3%) after a downwardly revised flat reading (from 0.1%) in May.

The ISM Manufacturing Index expanded to 55.6% in July (Briefing.com consensus 54.0%) from 53.3.3% in June.