Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] The stock market's strong opening propelled the S&P 500 (+0.8%) and Nasdaq Composite (+1.2%) to new record highs following a wave of economic data this morning and the impressive earnings reports from Microsoft (MSFT 538.83, +25.59, +5.0%) and Meta Platforms (META 778.74, +83.52, +12.0%) after yesterday's close. 

The S&P 500 struck a new record intraday level at 6427.02, while the Nasdaq Composite established a new record of its own at 21,457.48.

The communication services sector (+2.8%) and information technology sector (+1.3%) are up in response to the earnings, with the consumer discretionary (+0.7%), industrials (+0.4%), financials (+0.4%), and utilities (+0.2%) sectors tacking on gains as well.

Microsoft's move pushes the company past $4 trillion in market capitalization, with NVIDIA (NVDA 182.08, +2.82, +1.6%) the only other company that has that distinction. 

Just released, the July Chicago PMI registered at 47.1 (Briefing.com consensus 42.1) from a prior level of 40.4.