Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 (-1.0%), Nasdaq Composite (-1.3%), and DJIA (-0.7%) sit lower across the board amid weakness in the broader market and sustained pressure across mega-cap stocks. 

Alphabet (GOOG 319.84, -13.50, -4.05%) is lower after its earnings report, sending the communication services sector (-2.1%) lower, while Amazon (AMZN 222.39, -10.60, -4.55%) holds a similar loss ahead of its earnings after the close, providing weak leadership for the consumer discretionary sector (-2.5%). 

The Vanguard Mega Cap Growth ETF is down 1.8% early in the session. 

Unlike previous sessions this week that have benefitted from broad strength, only the defensive consumer staples (+0.4%), health care (+0.2%), and utilities (+0.1%) sectors hold gains. 

The materials (-1.1%) and energy (-1.1%) sectors are among the underperformers as gold and oil prices both move lower after a solid rebound yesterday. 

Just released, the December Job Openings and Labor Turnover report saw 6.542 million job openings in December, down from the downwardly revised previous level of 6.928 million (from 7.146 million).