Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] Stocks are mostly higher today, with the S&P 500 (+0.9%), Nasdaq Composite (+1.3%), and DJIA (+0.6%) sporting solid gains just before midday. 

The major averages are supported by strength in many of their largest components. The Vanguard Mega Cap Growth ETF is up 1.0%, with notable performances lifting the information technology (+1.6%) and consumer discretionary (+1.6%) to the top of today's leaderboard. 

Amazon (AMZN 206.54, +5.39, +2.68%) finally sees some momentum after yesterday's higher finish snapped a losing streak dating back to February 2. 

NVIDIA (NVDA 189.71, +4.74, +2.56%) is up similarly after announcing a multiyear partnership with Meta Platforms (META 640.39, +1.10, +0.17%), and even Microsoft (MSFT 401.09, +4.23, +1.07%) gets in on the action as software names rebound from recent weakness today. 

While mega-cap gains certainly play a role in the index-level gains, strength is not limited to just the market's largest components. The energy (+1.4%) and materials (+1.2%) sectors both confidently rebound from yesterday's weakness, while the financials sector (+0.8%) expands upon its previous gain. The S&P 500 Equal Weighted Index (+0.7%) just barely trails the market-weighted S&P 500 (+0.9%). 

Elsewhere, the Russell 2000 (+1.3%) and S&P Mid Cap 400 (+1.0%) also outperform, suggesting a broader improvement in risk sentiment following recent volatility.