Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] The stock market opened to strength in the information technology sector (+1.1%), which has supported the index level advance that saw the S&P 500 (+0.6%) capture a new all-time high level just after midday. 

Meanwhile, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (+0.8%) sits just beneath a record high of its own, while the DJIA (+0.4%) reversed an earlier loss as sector strength has improved throughout the session. 

The information technology sector is bolstered by strong leadership from NVIDIA (NVDA 188.24, +3.20, +1.73%), with the stock rising after CEO Jensen Huang stated in a CNBC interview that the "demand of computing has gone up substantially."

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD 224.15, +12.64, +5.98%) continues to build on this week's momentum after announcing a partnership with OpenAI, contributing to a 2.3% gain in the PHLX Semiconductor Index.

Dell (DELL 161.29, +10.42, +6.90%) holds the widest gain in the sector (and the S&P 500) today, seeing continued strength after announcing an increase to its long-term annual revenue growth expectations yesterday. 

Seven S&P 500 sectors currently trade in positive territory, with the industrials (+1.0%), utilities (+0.7%), and materials (+0.6%) sectors also holding gains wider than 0.5%. 

Losses today are modest in comparison. The energy sector (-0.5%) lags despite an increase in the price of oil, the consumer staples sector (-0.5%) gives back half of its gain from yesterday, the real estate sector (-0.2%) continues to underperform this week, and the communication services sector (-0.2%) faces a loss in its largest component, Alphabet (GOOG 245.35, -1.78, -0.72%).

Mega-cap names as a whole are still contributing to today's advance, as the Vanguard Mega-Cap Growth ETF is up 0.7%. 

However, they are not the sole contributor to the index-level gains, as the S&P 500 Equal Weighted Index (+0.4%) performs relatively in line with the market-weighted S&P 500 (+0.6%). 

Advancers outpace decliners by a roughly 2-to-1 ratio on both the NYSE and Nasdaq, showing that today's buy-the-dip action is not just limited to mega-cap and semiconductor names, which lagged yesterday. 

The small-cap Russell 2000 (+1.0%) and S&P Mid Cap 400 (+0.8%) outperform after a modest retreat yesterday. 

Outside of a few tech-related headlines, today's session has been largely uneventful. There were no notable economic data releases, not due to the government shutdown but simply because none were on the calendar.

This afternoon will see the release of the September FOMC Meeting Minutes, with market participants eager for any Fed commentary amid a recent lack of data.

Reviewing today's data:

• Weekly MBA Mortgage Applications Index -4.7%; Prior -12.7%