Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 (-0.4%), Nasdaq Composite (-0.4%), and DJIA (-0.4%) hold identical losses near the end of today's session that widen their week-to-date losses. 

Homebuilder names, which initially traded higher after this morning's strong New Home Sales report for August (800,000; Briefing.com consensus 650,000), have given back the bulk of their earlier gains. 

Last week, Commerce Dept data showed that permits for future single-family home construction dropped to two-year lows. As such, builders may be expecting a future sales slowdown or residual caution in the market. This suggests that this current sales spike might be temporary or perhaps driven by heavy discounting, as there is currently a glut of unsold new houses.

The iShares U.S. Home Construction ETF is now up just 0.1% after holding a nearly 1.0% gain this morning. 

Investors will look to KB Home's (KBH 62.54, +0.14, +0.22%) earnings report after the close for further color.