Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 (-0.1%), Nasdaq Composite (-0.2%), and DJIA (+0.1%) are little changed as the broader market remains mixed this morning. 

The health care sector (+1.1%) continues to outperform following a report from The Washington Post that President Trump will soon announce that Pfizer (PFE 24.72, +0.87, +3.63%) has agreed to sell its medications through Medicaid at lower prices. 

Merck (MRK 80.66, +2.08, +2.65%), Amgen (AMGN 281.30, +7.33, +2.68%), and others trade higher in response. 

The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index fell to 94.2 in September (Briefing.com consensus 96.0) from an upwardly revised 97.8 (from 97.4) in August. In the same period a year ago, the index stood at 99.2.

The key takeaway from the report is that consumers felt much less positive about business conditions, with thoughts about job availability hitting multi-year lows. That consideration will underpin the market's thinking that another rate cut is at least coming at the October FOMC meeting.