Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] The stock market's modest opening gains saw the S&P 500 (-0.1%) and Nasdaq Composite (-0.1%) capture new record highs, though the indices, along with the DJIA (-0.3) have since retreated beneath their flatlines.

Only the energy sector (+0.8%), which is supported by a $0.80 increase in oil prices to $64.10 (an increase of 1.3%), and the consumer discretionary sector (+0.4%) now trade in positive territory.

While losses are broad-based in the early going, they are also modest, as only the financials (-0.5%) and utilities (-0.5%) sectors have retreated more than 0.4%.

Industrial production increased 0.1% month-over-month in August (Briefing.com consensus 0.0%) following a downwardly revised 0.4% decline (from -0.1%) in July. The capacity utilization rate was 77.4% (Briefing.com consensus 77.4%), following a downwardly revised 77.4% (from 77.5%) in July. Total industrial production increased 0.9% yr/yr, while the capacity utilization rate was 2.2 percentage points below its long-run average.

The key takeaway from the report is that industrial production activity was driven in August by the production of motor vehicles and parts.

Just released, July business inventories increased 0.2% (Briefing.com consensus: 0.2%) from an upwardly revised prior level of 0.2% (from 0.0%).

The NAHB Housing Market Index for September remained unchanged at 32 (Briefing.com consensus: 33) from a prior level of 32.