Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] The Nasdaq Composite (+1.2%), S&P 500 (+0.7%), and DJIA (+0.2%) are maintaining their early gains that followed yesterday's mega-cap earnings reports after the close.

The energy sector (+0.4%) now trades in positive territory, leaving the real estate (-0.6%), health care (-0.5%), consumer staples (-0.3%), and materials (-0.1%) sectors as the only four S&P 500 sectors currently holding a loss.

Meanwhile, the communication services (+3.0%) and information technology (+1.3%) sectors outperform, though relative weakness in chipmakers is preventing further gains in the technology sector. The PHLX Semiconductor Index is down 1.2% as a result.

The Q2 Employment Cost Index increased 0.9% (Briefing.com consensus: 0.8%) for the 3-month period ending in June 2025, with wages and salaries up 1.0% and benefit costs up 0.7%.

The key takeaway from the report is that compensation costs have moderated, which could serve to lower some of the inflation temperature at the Fed.