Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] The stock market charted a mostly higher finish today, with the S&P 500 (+0.1%) and DJIA (+0.5%) extending their push into record territory, while the Nasdaq Composite's (flat) marginally higher finish resulted in a record closing high for the index. Today's action was driven by a rally across semiconductor and other AI-related names and a rebound across the broader market following yesterday's narrow tech leadership, though weakness across some of the market's largest names limited gains at the index level.

Alphabet (GOOG 358.39, -14.19, -3.81%) was a notable laggard, moving lower after announcing an $80 billion equity capital raise to fund the rapid expansion of its AI infrastructure footprint. While concerns around dilution and unprecedented capital spending hampered the stock, and the communication services sector (-2.6%), the market treated the news as a meaningful positive for several AI supply chain and data center beneficiaries.

Optical stocks such as Coherent (COHR 426.89, +63.99, +17.63%) and Lumentum (LITE 1029.15, +124.15, +13.72%) were among the best-performing S&P 500 names, while Corning (GLW 200.40, +23.70, +13.41%) also posted a double-digit gain.

Though not a component of the S&P 500, Marvell (MRVL 290.79, +71.36, +32.52%) rocketed to record highs after NVIDIA (NVDA 222.82, -1.54, -0.69%) CEO Jensen Huang delivered a rare and powerful endorsement at Computex in Taipei, calling Marvell the "next trillion-dollar company."

All told, the PHLX Semiconductor Index finished 5.9% higher, which helped balance out a 2.8% slide in the iShares GS Software ETF as software stocks retreated from yesterday's highs.

The information technology sector (+0.9%) finished the day firmly higher.

Elsewhere in the sector, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE 56.14, +9.14, +19.45%) was a standout after an impressive beat-and-raise earnings report.

Meanwhile, the utilities sector (+1.9%) rebounded nicely from its weak showing yesterday, buoyed by Alphabet's assertion that it needs more compute capacity and the power to generate it.

Other outperformers include the materials sector (+1.2%), which was supported by leadership in steel names after the White House adjusted some tariffs on metals, and the industrials sector, which benefited similarly from a reduction of tariffs on agricultural equipment to 15% from 25%, with Deere (DE 579.25, +36.82, +6.79%) and Caterpillar (CAT 909.81, +44.45, +5.14%) both capturing solid gains.

Elsewhere, the energy sector (+1.0%) notched a similar gain as oil prices drifted higher throughout the session. Developments on the U.S.-Iran front were relatively muted today, though Israel has continued strikes in Lebanon.

In addition to the communication services sector (-2.6%), the health care sector (-1.0%) extended its slide, while the consumer discretionary sector (-0.7%) also lagged.

Outside of the S&P 500, the Russell 2000 (+0.9%) and S&P Mid Cap 400 (+0.9%) outperformed.

Overall, today's session underscored the market's continued confidence in the AI infrastructure theme, with capital flowing into semiconductor, optical, networking, and power-related names. That broadening AI trade helped offset weakness in several mega-cap stocks and supported another push deeper into record territory for the major averages.

U.S. Treasuries saved their best for the overnight trade, garnering support from sliding oil prices and an early indication that the U.S. stock market would open today's session with a negative bias. The gains seen overnight, however, would largely be retraced during the cash session when both oil prices and stock prices reversed course from their overnight disposition. The 2-year note yield finished unchanged at 4.05%, and the 10-year note yield settled down three basis points to 4.45%.

• Russell 2000: +18.1% YTD
• Nasdaq Composite: +16.6% YTD
• S&P Mid Cap 400: +13.6% YTD
• S&P 500: +11.2% YTD
• DJIA: +6.8% YTD

Reviewing today's data:

• April JOLTS—Job Openings 7.618 million versus upwardly revised 6.887 million (from 6.866 million) for March

[BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 (+0.2%) and DJIA (+0.5%) are well positioned to notch record closing highs to go along with today's record intraday levels, while the Nasdaq Composite remains flat.

NVIDIA (NVDA 222.42, -1.94, -0.86%) has moved into negative territory for the day, with mixed strength across other mega-cap names weighing on the Nasdaq Composite. The Vanguard Mega Cap Growth ETF is down 0.4%.

Meanwhile, several cyclical sectors, including the materials (+1.3%), energy (+1.3%), and industrials (+0.9%) are near their best levels of the session.

[BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 (+0.1%), Nasdaq Composite (-0.1%), and DJIA (+0.5%) are mixed as the market enters the final hour of the session.

The information technology sector (+0.5%) remains higher, but is approaching session lows as losses across software names widen.

Additionally, the communication services sector (-2.2%) is back to its worst levels of the session, with Alphabet (GOOG 361.09, -11.49, -3.08%) charting new session lows after finding some intraday reprieve.

The Trade Desk (TTD 21.04, -2.18, -9.37%)trades even lower, in line with the broader trend across packaged software names today.

[BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 (+0.07%) is in second place this afternoon, up about 5 points.

Briefly, S&P 500 constituents Corning (GLW 199.74, +23.04, +13.04%), Ciena (CIEN 620.88, +51.27, +9.00%), and Super Micro Computer (SMCI 50.03, +3.15, +6.72%) pepper the top of the average. CIEN taps 25-year highs today after B. Riley Securities upped their target on the stock to $531 (from $283) ahead of Thursday's earnings report, while SMCI rises after unveiling new AI-focused rack-scale systems with Arm CPUs and highlighting collaboration with AMD on next-generation Helios platforms, reinforcing its positioning in high-demand AI infrastructure markets.

Meanwhile, The Trade Desk (TTD 21.09, -2.13, -9.17%) holds the steepest losses after announcing a new CFO appointment, as investors viewed the leadership change and transition period as adding near-term uncertainty despite no change to fundamentals.

[BRIEFING.COM] The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (-0.06%) is now down about 16 points this afternoon.

Gold futures settled $13.60 higher (+0.3%) at $4,519.90/oz, as a softer U.S. dollar and ongoing uncertainty surrounding U.S.-Iran negotiations supported safe-haven demand. Investors also remained cautious ahead of key U.S. labor market data later this week, which could provide further insight into the Federal Reserve's interest-rate outlook.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Dollar Index is up less than +0.1% to $99.28.