Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 (+0.8%), Nasdaq Composite (+1.0%), and DJIA (+1.4%) hold solid broad-based gains just before midday to start the first full trading week of 2026. 

Seven S&P 500 sectors trade higher, with cyclical sectors such as the financials (+2.3%), consumer discretionary (+1.9%), energy (+1.8%), and industrials (+1.2%) sectors holding the widest gains. 

Oil services and contract drilling names such as Halliburton (HAL 32.14, +2.54, +8.58%) and SLB (SLB 43.92, +3.72, +9.25%), which could be some of the most direct beneficiaries of a rebuild of Venezuela's oil infrastructure, are S&P 500 standouts. 

The information technology sector (+0.6%) holds a more modest gain, though chipmakers are once again outperforming, with the PHLX Semiconductor Index up 2.2% after a 4.0% gain on Friday. 

Meanwhile, the defensive utilities (-2.4%), health care (-1.2%), and consumer staples (-0.8%) sectors trade lower, as does the real estate sector (-0.5%), which was the only S&P 500 sector to finish 2025 in negative territory. 

Outside of the S&P 500, the small-cap Russell 2000 (+1.2%) and S&P Mid Cap 400 (+1.2%) advance amid a more "risk-on" posturing in the market today.