Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] Modest gains across most sectors pushed the S&P 500 (+0.4%) and Nasdaq Composite (+0.4%) to new record high levels after facing resistance for most of the session.

Today's batch of earnings reports was lighter and arguably less consequential than that of the past few days, but there is a lingering optimism around AI growth following Alphabet's (GOOG 194.45, +1.25, +0.65%) impressive earnings report and capital expenditure increase for AI developments.

The market is also optimistic that more favorable trade deals can be reached before the August 1 deadline, as the Trump administration is set to hold trade talks with China next week, according to The Wall Street Journal. 

President Trump remarked today in an interview that there is a 50% chance that a deal with the EU gets finalized before the deadline. 

In the meantime, the markets remain enthused by the current upward momentum that has seen the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite reach record high levels several times this week.

Today's trade has seen broad-based participation, with nine sectors trading in positive territory.

The consumer discretionary sector (+1.0%) tops the standings, with strong leadership from Tesla (TSLA 322.02, +16.72, +5.5%), rebounding from an unimpressive earnings report and cautious remarks from CEO Elon Musk about the next several quarters.

Elsewhere in the sector, Deckers Outdoor (DECK 117.37, +12.43, +11.8%) is the top gainer in the S&P 500 today after a healthy EPS beat of $0.25.

Industrials (+0.7%), financials (+0.6%), materials (+0.5%), and technology (+0.4%) round out the top five.

Meanwhile, the energy (-0.3%) and real estate (-0.2%) sectors lag.

Mega-cap stocks are continuing to outperform today, with the Vanguard Mega Cap Growth ETF showing a gain of 0.5%. 

The S&P Mid Cap 400 also posts a nice gain of 0.5%, after giving back most of its gains from earlier in the week yesterday.

A closer look at today's data:

• June Durable Orders -9.3% (Briefing.com consensus -11.0%); Prior was revised to 16.5% from 16.4%, June Durable Goods - ex transportation 0.2% (Briefing.com consensus -0.2%); Prior was revised to 0.6% from 0.5%
  • The key takeaway from the report is that the sharp headline decrease was largely due to a drop in transportation equipment orders after a big jump in May, though nondefense capital goods orders, excluding aircraft—a proxy for business spending—fell 0.7% after increasing 2.0% in May, reflecting a moderation after a solid rise