Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] The stock market opened with strength in its larger components following yesterday's retreat, with a lack of macro developments allowing the early momentum to persist, culminating in healthy gains across the major averages. 

Shortly after the open, shares of Apple (AAPL 213.28, +10.36, +5.10%) traded higher following headlines that the company will announce a $100 billion investment increase in domestic manufacturing at the White House this afternoon, bringing the company's total investment to $600 billion.

While the White House announced that India (which is the largest manufacturer of Apple's iPhone) will face an additional 25% tariff (50% total tariff rate) due to its ongoing purchase of Russian oil, White House officials said that Apple will not be materially affected by the tariff, according to CNBC. 

Trade developments were notably slim for the remainder of the session. Bloomberg reported that Swiss President Karin Keller-Sutter will leave Washington today without reaching a deal to lower the looming 39% tariff rate. Separately, President Trump stated via Truth Social that his Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, had a "highly productive" meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, though no further details have been reported, and neither one of these headlines moved the market.

Mega-cap momentum, however, would continue to push the major averages higher throughout the session.

The consumer discretionary sector (+2.4%) finished as the top-performing S&P 500 sector due to noteworthy gains in its mega-cap constituents, Amazon (AMZN 222.30, +8.56, +4.00%) and Tesla (TSLA 319.91, +11.19, +3.62%).

A strong performance from Walmart (WMT 103.36, +4.06, +4.08%) buoyed the consumer staples sector (+1.7%), and Apple's gains helped the information technology sector (+1.3%) round out the top three gainers today.

In total, six S&P 500 sectors finished in positive territory today. The market-weighted S&P 500 (+0.7%) outperformed the S&P 500 Equal Weighted Index (-0.2%), showing that while there was indeed a healthy dose of buying interest, larger stocks contributed more to today's advance.

The Vanguard Mega Cap Growth ETF finished the day with a 1.5% gain.

Today's batch of earnings reports garnered mixed reactions, with several blue-chip stocks in the fold.

McDonald's (MCD 307.58, +8.81, +2.95%) reported its best earnings since 4Q23, adding to strength in the consumer discretionary sector (+2.5%).

Meanwhile, Walt Disney (DIS 115.17, -3.15, -2.66%) traded lower despite topping earnings expectations, limiting gains within the communication services sector (+0.7%). 

Amgen (AMGN 284.67, -15.41, -5.14%), which also topped earnings expectations, weighed on the health care sector (-1.5%) as investors have taken stock of some weak sales in some of its key drugs.

Additionally, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD 163.12, -11.19, -6.42%) and Cirrus Logic (CRUS 97.25, -7.72, -7.35%) moved lower following earnings, contributing to weakness among stocks that saw the PHLX Semiconductor Index close with a loss of 0.2%. 

The energy sector (-0.9%) faced pressure today as crude oil recorded its lowest close since early June, with prices falling 1.2% to $64.34 per barrel. 

The utilities (-0.9%), real estate (-0.8%), and materials (-0.8%) sectors also finished the day in negative territory, though the losses did little to sway a steady climb in the major averages that saw the S&P 500 (+0.7%), Nasdaq Composite (+1.2%), and DJIA (+0.2%) finish near their session highs.

While today's advance was not as broad-based as Monday's rally, it marked a similar "buy the dip" disposition, though a lack of macro developments leaves room to question if the trend will continue to record-high levels from last week.

U.S. Treasuries had a mixed showing on Wednesday, as longer tenors retreated after outperforming on Tuesday while the short end climbed after lagging yesterday. Treasuries faced some intraday pressure that persisted through the completion of a weak $42 billion 10-year note offering, but the last 90 minutes of trade saw a push to fresh highs in the 5-year note and shorter tenors, while longer tenors finished near their starting levels.

The 2-year note yield settled down two basis points to 3.70% and the 10-year note yield settled up two basis points to 4.22%

• Russell 2000: +2.5% WTD
• Nasdaq Composite: +2.5% WTD
• S&P 500: +1.7% WTD
• DJIA: +1.4% WTD
• S&P Mid Cap 400: +0.9% WTD

Reviewing today's data:

• The weekly MBA Mortgage Index was up 3.1% after falling 3.8% a week ago. The Refinance Index rose 5.2% while the Purchase Index was up 1.5%.