Stock Market Update
12-Oct-26 14:25 ET
Energy sector holds afternoon lead
Dow +171.52
at 51826.68,
Nasdaq -131.28
at 27255.83,
S&P -11.44
at 7800.17
[BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 (-0.2%) has dipped to a fresh low in recent trade, though the overall picture remains much the same with nine sectors up and three of those nine holding gains of at least 1.0%.
Energy (+1.4%) is in the lead, thanks to a rise in the price of oil, which recently produced a fresh session high just ahead of the looming pit close at 13:30 ET. WTI crude is up $2.22, or 2.4%, at $94.07/bbl after rebounding from an overnight dip to its 50-day moving average (89.40).
The energy sector has been this month's best performer by a wide margin. The group is up 7.3% since the end of September, easily outpacing the 1.9% month-to-date gain in the S&P 500. Besides energy, defensively-oriented utilities (+0.3%; +5.3% month-to-date) and consumer staples (+1.0%; +4.9% month-to-date) sport October gains of more than 3.7% while the technology sector (-1.1%; +0.5% month-to-date) brings up the bottom of this month's leaderboard.
