Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 (+0.2%), Nasdaq Composite (+0.1%), and DJIA (+0.7%) hold modest gains after the open, with the DJIA notching a record high for a third consecutive session. 

Strength is relatively broad, with nine S&P 500 sectors holding trading higher. The consumer discretionary sector (+0.8%) leads the advance, rebounding nicely from yesterday's weakness as Marriott (MAR 360.15, +28.94, +8.74%) and Hasbro (HAS 103.59, +6.83, +7.06%) move sharply higher after topping earnings estimates.

However, the communication services sector (-1.1%) is a negative outlier as Alphabet (GOOG 316.46, -7.94, -2.45%) trades lower this morning.

The information technology sector (+0.3%) also opened to a loss but has reclaimed its flatline. Software names continue to post solid gains, with Datadog (DDOG 130.01, +16.00, +14.03%) the best-performing S&P 500 name after beating earnings expectations. 

Just released, business inventories increased 0.1% in November (Briefing.com consensus 0.2%) from a previous increase of 0.3%.