Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] Opening gains in the stock market pushed the S&P 500 (+0.2%) and Nasdaq Composite (+0.3%) to fresh record highs, while the DJIA (-0.4%) lags.

Sector strength has increased since the open, with seven sectors trading in positive territory, led by the communication services sector (+0.9%) as its top component, Alphabet (GOOG 194.99, +3.48, +1.8%), trades higher following its above-consensus earnings report after the close yesterday.

The preliminary S&P Global U.S. Manufacturing PMI for July hit 49.5 from a prior level of 52.9.

The preliminary S&P Global U.S. Services PMI for July hit 55.2, from a prior level of 52.9.

Just released, new home sales increased by 4,000 in June to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 627,000 units (Briefing.com consensus 640,000) from a prior level of 623,000 in May.