Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] As the market enters the final half hour of trading, the major averages are well improved from their session lows, though today's main trends are still prevalent.

Though considerably improved from earlier levels, the consumer discretionary (-1.2%), information technology (-1.1%), and communication services (-0.6%) sectors are the weakest-performing sectors due to their mega-cap constituents. 

Meanwhile, the defensive consumer staples (+0.9%), health care (+0.6%), and utilities (+0.2%) sectors are among the S&P 500 sectors moving in a positive direction. 

The energy sector (+1.1%) is the top performer, supported by crude oil futures settling $0.93 higher (+1.5%) at $62.70 per barrel. 

Today featured a decent amount of corporate headlines that have triggered stock-specific moves, though none made a notable impact on the broader market. Hertz Global (HTZ 5.47, +0.27, +5.19%) made a nice move today after CNBC reported that the company will begin selling used cars on Amazon Autos. Carvana (CVNA 336.79, -7.45, -2.16%) traded lower. 

The Wall Street Journal reports that North Korea has a previously unknown military base near the Chinese border that has long-range missile capabilities potentially capable of striking the U.S. mainland.