Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] A modest bump off of opening lows has the S&P 500 (-0.9%), Nasdaq Composite (-1.1%), and DJIA (-0.7%) slightly improved for the day.

The energy sector (flat) briefly held a modest gain, benefitting from a $1.02 increase in the price of oil to $65.03, an increase of 1.6%. 

Meanwhile, the information technology sector (-1.2%) holds the widest loss. Bloomberg reports that the U.S. has revoked Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing's (TSM 227.54, -3.33, -1.44%) China shipping waiver, tightening the export controls for the company's Nanjing site.

In economic data, the August ISM Manufacturing Index checked in at 48.7% (Briefing.com consensus: 48.6%), up from 48.0% in July. The dividing line between expansion and contraction is 50.0%, so the August figure suggests manufacturing activity contracted at a slower pace than the prior month.

The key takeaway from the report is that the new orders index bounced back into expansion territory following six straight months of contraction; however, the overall activity for the manufacturing sector remains in a disappointing mode of contraction.