Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] The stock market faces a broad retreat this morning, with the S&P 500 (-0.3%), Nasdaq Composite (-0.3%), and DJIA (-0.3%) holding similar losses just before midday. Week-to-date losses across the major averages almost entirely negate last week's advance, making for an underwhelming "Santa Claus rally" period. 

The small-cap Russell 2000 (-0.4%) and S&P Mid Cap 400 (-0.6%) are also lower, furthering a stretch of underperformance this week. 

All eleven S&P 500 sectors hold losses today, leaving just the energy (-0.7% today, +1.0% week-to-date) and utilities (-0.3% today, +0.1% week-to-date) sectors in positive territory this week. 

The real estate (-0.9%) and energy (-0.8%) sectors underperform, while losses elsewhere are contained within 0.5%. 

Like previous sessions this week, news flow is sparse and volume is lighter-than-average ahead of tomorrow's holiday closure. 

Decliners outpace advancers by a nearly 3-to-1 margin on the NYSE and a roughly 2-to-1 clip on the Nasdaq.