Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] The stock market shows losses across the board, pressured by declines in mega cap names and general profit-taking activity. The S&P 500 shows a 1.5% decline, the Nasdaq Composite trades 2.0% lower, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average trades down 1.1% from yesterday. 

Tech stocks are leading the declines, but just about everything is coming along for the downside ride. 29 of the 30 Dow components are lower and all 11 S&P 500 sectors sport declines. Decliners have a 7-to-1 lead over advancers at the NYSE and a 4-to-1 lead at the Nasdaq.

Apple (AAPL 253.64, -5.40, -2.1%), NVIDIA (NVDA 136.11, -3.81, -2.7%), Microsoft (MSFT 427.73, -10.37, -2.4%), and other mega caps are down at least 2.0% on concerted profit-taking activity. This price action has led the information technology sector to trade 2.1% lower. The consumer discretionary (-2.2%) and communication services (-1.8%) sectors, which also house mega cap names, have also underperformed. 

The energy sector shows the slimmest loss, down 0.2% amid rising oil prices. WTI crude oil futures are 1.0% higher at $70.28/bbl.

Today's retreat coincides with a jump in the CBOE Volatility Index (18.07, +3.33, +22.7%) as investors have turned to the options market to hedge portfolios for increased volatility over the next 30 days, which some think could be accented with more concerted efforts to take capital gains.

Treasury yields are slightly elevated, adding pressure to the stock market. The 10-yr yield is up three basis points to 4.61%.

Reviewing today's economic data:

• November Adv. Intl. Trade in Goods -$102.9 bln; Prior was revised to -$98.3 bln from -$99.1 bln
• November Adv. Retail Inventories 0.3%; Prior was revised to 0.2% from 0.1%
• November Adv. Wholesale Inventories -0.2%; Prior was revised to 0.1% from 0.2%