Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] While the stock market's modest opening advance saw the S&P 500 (-0.1%) and Nasdaq Composite (-0.1%) notch fresh record highs, modest but broad-based losses saw the major averages promptly retreat beneath their opening levels.

The DJIA (-0.4%) lags the group, while smaller cap indices such as the Russell 2000 (-0.5%) and S&P Mid Cap 400 (-0.6%) trade even lower. 

The energy sector (+1.4%) leads the four advancing S&P 500 sectors, supported by a $1.10 increase in the price of oil to $64.40, an increase of 1.7%.

Elsewhere, the consumer discretionary sector (+0.9%) receives the lion's share of today's limited mega-cap strength, as Tesla (TSLA 418.37, +8.33, +2.03%) builds on its recent rally while Amazon (AMZN 235.15, +3.72, +1.61%) trades higher after announcing the return of its Prime Big Deals Day on October 7-8.

The Vanguard Mega Cap Growth ETF is down 0.1%, though larger names are still faring better than their smaller counterparts, as the market-weighted S&P 500 (-0.1%) outperforms the S&P 500 Equal Weighted Index (-0.4%).

Decliners currently outpace advancers by a nearly 2-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and a roughly 11-to-8 ratio on the Nasdaq.