Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 (-1.0%), Nasdaq Composite (-1.5%), and DJIA (-1.1%) are back near their session lows as stocks chart a lower course on the final day of a tough week. 

Like many previous sessions this month, stocks are facing broad pressure as the price of oil climbs, with crude oil currently up $4.04 (+4.3%) to $98.52 per barrel. The state of negotiations between the U.S. and Iran remains unclear at best, while the market is increasingly anxious about a potential ground conflict after The Wall Street Journal reported that the Pentagon is considering sending an additional 10,00 troops to the Middle East. 

Eight S&P 500 sectors trade lower, with tech and cyclical sectors the hardest hit (that is, with the exception of the energy sector, which trades 1.9% higher). 

The consumer discretionary sector (-2.3%) is the worst performer as nearly all of its components trade lower. Amazon (AMZN 201.09, -6.45, -3.11%) and Tesla (TSLA 364.34, -7.77, -2.09%) provide poor mega-cap leadership amid another weak day for the market's largest components, with the Vanguard Mega Cap Growth ETF down 1.5%. 

Elsewhere in the sector, Carnival (CCL 24.30, -0.98, -3.90%) moves lower after topping earnings estimates but issuing disappointing guidance in response to rising fuel prices. Combined with today's higher price of oil, cruise lines are some of the worst-performing components of the sector. 

bPlatforms (META 529.04, -18.50, -3.38%) is another mega-cap stock that trades sharply lower, facing unrelenting pressure after a court found the company and Alphabet's (GOOG 276.17, -4.57, -1.63%) YouTube liable in a social media addiction trial.  The communication services sector (-1.6%) is once again near the bottom of the sector leaderboard as a result. 

Within the information technology sector (-1.2%), semiconductor names are weaker today, but the losses are tame in comparison to yesterday's retreat. However, software stocks face renewed pressure, with Datadog (DDOG 113.50, -10.80, -8.69%) and Palo Alto Networks (PANW 145.85, -10.51, -6.72%) among the worst-performing S&P 500 names. The iShares GS Software ETF is down 3.4%. 

Coinbase Global (COIN 161.53, -11.85, -6.83%) is also near the bottom of the S&P 500 leaderboard as today's risk-off tone is evident across cryptocurrencies, with Bitcoin retreating 4.2%.  The stock is the worst performing name in the financials sector (-1.7%), which is another one of today's laggards. 

Elsewhere in the sector, Citigroup (C 108.71, -3.70, -3.29%) faced a sharp intraday retreat after Bloomberg reported the company is interested in buying a regional bank. 

While growth stocks face pressure today, there is some solid rotational interest in the defensive utilities (+1.3%) and consumer staples (+1.1%) sectors. Entergy (ETR 111.44, +8.58, +8.34%) is the best-performing S&P 500 component after announcing an additional agreement with Meta Platforms (META) to support a hyperscaler data center in Northeast Louisiana, while Brown-Forman Corporation (BF-B 27.29, +1.55, +6.02%) sees an extension of yesterday's gains after confirming acquisition interest from Pernod-Ricard (PDRDY 47.12, -0.18, -0.38%).

Outside of the S&P 500, the Russell 2000 (-1.1%) and S&P Mid Cap 400 (-0.9%) hold losses comparable to those of the major averages. 

So far, a risk-off tone into the afternoon reflects growing geopolitical uncertainty and rising energy prices, which continue to weigh heavily on sentiment and limit any meaningful rebound attempts.

Reviewing today's data:

• The final reading of the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment for March fell to 53.3 (Briefing.com consensus: 55.5) from the preliminary reading of 55.5. The final reading for February was 56.6. In the same period a year ago, the index stood at 57.0.
  
  • The key takeaway from the report is that it conveyed large drops in sentiment among consumers with middle and higher incomes, who were dealing with rising gas prices and falling stock prices in the wake of the Iran war.