Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 (+0.9%), Nasdaq Composite (+1.5%), and DJIA (+1.1%) are off to a solid start this morning, with renewed momentum across semiconductor stocks and several notable post-earnings moves driving the S&P 500 and DJIA to record highs despite some weakness in the broader market.

The information technology sector (+2.6%) is out in front, supported by a 4.8% surge in the PHLX Semiconductor Index, with large chipmakers, memory names, and other AI-infrastructure stocks posting strong gains this morning.

Elsewhere in the sector, Palantir Technologies (PLTR 153.61, +27.96, +22.25%) is the best performing S&P 500 name this morning after a beat-and-raise earnings report.

Caterpillar (CAT 886.74, +56.70, +6.83%) is another post-earnings standout, helping keep the industrials sector (+0.4%) in positive territory.

Elsewhere, more defensive sectors such as the utilities (-1.5%) and consumer staples (-0.7%) sectors continue to struggle as tech continues to outperform this week. However, some of yesterday's mega-cap tech standouts, such as Amazon (AMZN 277.39, -6.63, -2.33%) and Meta Platforms (META 585.28, -4.96, -0.84%), are giving back some of the previous session's gains, with the consumer discretionary sector (-1.1%) lagging as a result.

Meanwhile, the energy sector (-1.7%) posts the widest loss as crude oil retreats $4.47 (-5.6%) to $75.86 per barrel amid reports that the U.S. and Iran could reach a short-term peace deal.

On the data front, factory orders decreased 0.3% in June (Briefing.com consensus 0.2%) from an upwardly revised 1.1% decrease (from -1.3%) in May.

The June job openings and labor turnover survey saw 7.359 million job openings in June, from a downwardly revised prior level of 7.537 million (from 7.594 million).