Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] The stock market opened to relative strength this morning, with the DJIA up 0.4%, the S&P 500 up 0.2%, while the Nasdaq Composite is flat.

Eight sectors trade in positive territory, led by the industrials (1.2%), health care (+1.0%), and utilities (+0.8%) sectors. 

The communication services sector (-0.2%) is among the worst performers in the early going, with Alphabet (GOOG 191.06, -1.06, -0.6%) trading lower ahead of its earnings report this afternoon. 

Just released, existing home sales decreased 2.7% month-over-month in June to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.93 million (Briefing.com consensus 4.00 million) from an upwardly revised 4.04 million in May (from 4.03 million).