Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] The stock market has steadily built upon its opening gains as a combination of mega-cap outperformance and earnings data has kept the major averages plotting new session highs throughout the session.

Shares of Apple (AAPL 214.93, +12.01, +5.9%) surged shortly after the open following headlines that the company will announce a $100 billion investment increase in domestic manufacturing at the White House this afternoon, bringing the total investment figure to $600 billion. 

The White House announced today that India will face an additional tariff of 25% (50% total) due to its ongoing purchase of Russian oil. While India is the largest manufacturer of Apple's iPhone, White House officials say Apple will be largely unaffected by the tariffs for India, according to CNBC.

Apple's gains underpin the advance in the information technology sector (+1.2%), helping to mask relative weakness in semiconductor and AI stocks as Super Micro Computer (SMCI 45.11, -12.15, -21.2%), Advanced Micro Devices (AMD 162.32, -11.99, -6.8%), and Cirrus Logic (CRUS 97.85, -7.12, -6.8%) trade lower after earnings. The PHLX Semiconductor Index is down 0.9% today.

The consumer discretionary sector (+1.8%) also sees strong leadership among its mega-cap components, with Tesla (TSLA 317.55, +8.83, +2.9%) and Amazon (AMZN 219.02, +5.27, +2.5%) both trading higher. 

Elsewhere in the sector, McDonald's (MCD 306.86, +8.08, +2.71%) captures a nice gain after its strongest earnings report since 4Q23, pushing past its 200-day moving average (301.22).

Meanwhile, the consumer staples sector (+2.0%) is the best-performing S&P 500 sector, buoyed by  strength in its largest component, Walmart (WMT 103.28, +3.96, +4.0%)

In total, seven S&P 500 sectors trade in positive territory, and only the health care sector (-1.2%) sports a loss greater than 0.5%. 

The sector faces pressure across the majority of its constituents, with Amgen (AMGN 284.87, -15.21, -5.1%) contributing to the retreat as the stock trades lower despite topping earnings expectations.

Weakness in Amgen and Walt Disney (DIS 114.52, -3.80, -3.2%) following earnings has kept gains in the DJIA (+0.2%) modest in comparison to the S&P 500 (+0.7%) and Nasdaq Composite (+1.0%), though all three indices currently trade near their session highs. 

A 1.2% gain in the Vanguard Mega Cap Growth ETF highlights the role that mega-cap stocks are playing in today's advance, as the S&P 500 Equal Weighted Index (+0.1%) underperforms the market-weighted S&P 500 (+0.7%). 

Reviewing today's data:

• Weekly MBA Mortgage Applications 3.1%; Prior -3.8%