Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 (-0.3%), Nasdaq Composite (-0.9%), and DJIA (+0.7%) sit mixed as mega-cap weakness weighs against strength in pockets of the market that have gone largely overlooked in the recent rally. 

The market's largest names suffer from a combination of earnings weakness in Meta Platforms (META 658.00, -93.66, -12.46%) and Microsoft (MSFT 526.88, -14.66, -2.71%) and general profit taking across other names that have driven the recent run to record highs. 

The Vanguard Mega-Cap Growth ETF is down 1.0%, and the S&P 500 Equal Weighted Index (+0.4%) outperforms the market-weighted S&P 500 (-0.3%). 

Meanwhile, Alphabet (GOOG 289.25, +14.08, +5.12%) is a standout among the group after an impressive Q3 earnings report. 

Weakness in the mega-caps pushes the information technology (-1.1%), consumer discretionary (-1.0%), and communication services (-0.9%) sectors lower, while the materials sector (-0.2%) also holds a modest loss. 

Seven S&P 500 sectors trade higher, with the financials (+1.4%) and real estate (+1.2%) sectors outperforming after facing considerable losses yesterday. 

Earnings continue to be a driver of price action, with Eli Lilly (LLY 843.61, +30.08, +3.70%), Starbucks (SBUX 84.66, +0.49, +0.58%), Merck (MRK 86.27, -0.31, -0.36%), and Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG 33.52, -6.24, -15.71%) among some of the most prominent names to report outside of the mega-cap space. 

Elsewhere, the small-cap Russell 2000 (+0.3%) and S&P Mid Cap 400 (+0.3%) hold modest gains.