Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] After a brief opening jump saw the S&P 500 (-0.1%) and Nasdaq Composite (-0.1%) establish new record highs, the major averages traded slightly lower for the bulk of today's session, finishing just beneath their flatlines.

The S&P 500 captured a new all-time high this morning at 6,626.99, while the Nasdaq Composite followed a similar trajectory, setting a new all-time high of 22,397.50. Meanwhile, the DJIA (-0.3%) lagged the group.

The stock market's meandering disposition reflected a lack of conviction ahead of tomorrow's FOMC decision. With a 25-basis point rate cut fully priced in, the move itself is unlikely to sway markets, though investors will be closely watching the updated Summary of Economic Projections and Fed Chair Powell's press conference for signals on whether additional cuts in October and December remain on the table.

This morning the market learned that Stephen Miran will have a voting seat at the meeting after the Senate confirmed his Fed Governor nomination yesterday evening. Separately, a federal appeals court ruled that Fed Governor Lisa Cook cannot be fired ahead of the meeting, though neither one of these developments is expected to affect the outcome of this week's meeting.

Current rate cut expectations held steady today despite a trove of economic data, which featured a promising Retail Sales report for August (0.6%; Briefing.com consensus: 0.3%).

As a result, the market moved sideways, with the major averages staying close to their opening levels.

Four S&P 500 sectors finished higher, while six finished lower, and the health care sector finished flat. 

The energy sector (+1.7%) led the advancers, supported by crude oil futures settling today's session $1.24 higher (+2.0%) at $64.56 per barrel.

The consumer discretionary sector (+0.8%) was the only other sector to finish with a gain wider than 0.5%. Tesla (TSLA 421.62, +11.58, +2.82%) and Amazon (AMZN 234.05, +2.62, +1.13%) contributed to the advance amid a mixed day of mega-cap performance that saw the Vanguard Mega Cap Growth ETF close with a 0.1% loss. 

Elsewhere, the consumer staples (+0.2%) and communication services sectors (+0.3%) finished with more modest gains.

Besides a 1.8% loss in the thinly traded utilities sector, losses were also relatively modest across the board. 

Slim breadth figures further indicated the market's "wait and see" disposition today ahead of tomorrow's Fed developments. Decliners outpaced advancers by a roughly 5-to-4 margin on the NYSE and held an advantage of just a few dozen names on the Nasdaq.

While today's corporate headlines were not particularly market-moving, there were still several noteworthy developments. Hims & Hers Health (HIMS 50.86, -3.10, -5.74%) moved lower after receiving a warning letter from the FDA regarding the company's claims concerning its semaglutide products. 

Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD 18.25, -1.21, -6.22%) ceded some of its recent gains after TD Cowen downgraded the stock to Hold from Buy, citing concerns if the proposed acquisition by Paramount Skydance (PSKY 17.53, -1.05, -5.65%) does not come to fruition, according to CNBC.

Oracle (ORCL 306.65, +4.51, +1.49%) captured another nice gain after reports that the company will keep its cloud deal with TikTok under the proposed agreement to bring it under U.S. control. The White House extended the delay of the TikTok ban to December 18, with a call between President Trump and Chinese President Xi set to finalize the deal on Friday. 

U.S. Treasuries saw range-bound trading in front of Wednesday's FOMC decision, as buyers and sellers held their fire for the most part. The 2-year note yield settled down two basis points to 3.51%, and the 10-year note yield settled unchanged at 4.03%.

Reviewing today's data: 

• August Retail Sales 0.6% (Briefing.com consensus 0.3%); Prior was revised to 0.6% from 0.5%, August Retail Sales ex-auto 0.7% (Briefing.com consensus 0.3%); Prior was revised to 0.4% from 0.3%
  
  • The key takeaway from the report is that it reflects a consumer still spending at a good clip. The retail sales data are not adjusted for price changes. Granted, higher prices accounted for some of the increased sales activity in August, but they didn't account for all of it.
• August Import Prices 0.3%; Prior was revised to 0.2% from 0.4%
• August Import Prices ex-oil 0.4%; Prior was revised to 0.0% from 0.3%
• August Export Prices 0.3%; Prior was revised to 0.3% from 0.1%
• August Export Prices ex-ag. 0.3%; Prior was revised to 0.3% from 0.1%
• August Industrial Production 0.1% (Briefing.com consensus 0.0%); Prior was revised to -0.4% from -0.1%, August Capacity Utilization 77.4% (Briefing.com consensus 77.4%); Prior was revised to 77.4% from 77.5%
  
  • The key takeaway from the report is that industrial production activity was driven in August by the production of motor vehicles and parts.
• July Business Inventories 0.2% (Briefing.com consensus 0.2%); Prior was revised to 0.2% from 0.0%
• September NAHB Housing Market Index 32 (Briefing.com consensus 33); Prior 32