Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 (-0.1%), Nasdaq Composite (-0.5%), and DJIA (+0.7%) trade mixed ahead of this afternoon's FOMC decision, with the broader market largely advancing while mega-cap weakness limits gains at the index level. 

NVIDIA (NVDA 170.07, -4.81, -2.75%) is a notable laggard, trading lower after The Financial Times reported that China has told its domestic companies to avoid buying NVIDIA chips.

The information technology sector (-0.8%) is down, as are the consumer discretionary (-0.7%) and communication services (-0.5%) sectors. Mounting losses in the market's largest names seat the Vanguard Mega Cap Growth ETF with a 0.7% loss. The S&P 500 Equal Weighted Index (+0.7%) outperforms the market-weighted S&P 500 (-0.1%). 

Meanwhile, broad-based strength across the other eight S&P 500 sectors prevents wider losses across the major averages. The consumer staples (+1.1%), financials (+1.0%), and real estate (+1.0%) are the top gainers so far today.

Outside of the S&P 500, the Russell 2000 (+0.9%) and S&P Mid Cap 400 (+0.5%) trade higher in anticipation of today's FOMC decision, which is expected to bring a 25-basis-point rate cut alongside updated projections for further easing.