Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] The stock market opened to broad-based but modest gains, with an early loss in the information technology sector (-0.3%) limiting the advance of the S&P 500 (+0.2%), Nasdaq Composite (+0.2%), and DJIA (+0.1%).

At the index level, today's opening resembled yesterday's action, with the Nasdaq Composite jumping to an early lead, while the S&P 500 held a more modest gain, and the DJIA battled to breach its baseline.

There is, however, greater parity among the major averages today, as the early gains are considerably more broad-based than yesterday, and pressure in the information technology sector (-0.3%) limits the gap between the Nasdaq Composite and its peers.

Nine S&P 500 sectors trade in positive territory, led by the consumer discretionary sector (+1.5%), which is supported by a strong early performance from Amazon (AMZN 233.88, +7.89, +3.49%). 

Only the information technology (-0.3%) and materials (-0.4%) sectors trade beneath their flatlines.

In Fed headlines, The Wall Street Journal reports that the Justice Department has opened a criminal probe into Fed Governor Lisa Cook (FOMC voting member) over mortgage fraud allegations.

The final reading for the S&P Global U.S. Services PMI registered at 54.5, from a prior reading of 55.4.

The ISM Services PMI increased to 52.0% in August (Briefing.com consensus 50.5%) from 50.1% in July.