Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 (-1.0%), Nasdaq Composite (-1.6%), and DJIA (-0.6%) are charting new session lows, with the Nasdaq Composite on the brink of ceding its gain for the week.

The information technology sector (-1.9%) is now the worst-performing S&P 500 sector today. 

NVIDIA (NVDA 186.40, -7.40, -3.82%) provides weak leadership, contributing to a 2.9% retreat in the PHLX Semiconductor Index. 

Elsewhere in the sector, Palantir Technologies (PLTR 173.88, -10.29, -5.59%), Broadcom (AVGO 339.66, -15.56, -4.38%), and Oracle (ORCL 221.00, -5.99, -2.64%) face significant losses of their own. 

Meanwhile, Cisco (CSCO 76.89, +2.93, +3.96%) is one of few bright spots in the sector, trading sharply higher after reporting Q1 (Oct) results that topped expectations and issuing upbeat guidance for Q2 (Jan) and FY26. Revenue climbed 7.5% year-over-year to $14.88 billion, modestly above estimates, while EPS also came in slightly ahead of consensus. However, the real driver behind the stock's strength is Cisco's bullish outlook, fueled by accelerating AI infrastructure demand and a multiyear networking upgrade cycle.