Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 (-0.9%), Nasdaq Composite (-1.3%), and DJIA (-1.0%) are firmly lower this morning as fading optimism around an end to the war in Iran is putting broad pressure on equities.

President Trump addressed the nation last night and threatened more strikes against Iran, which the market did not take to mix well with this week's ceasefire hopes. Oil prices are moving sharply higher this morning, with WTI crude currently up $11.14 (+11.1%) to $111.26 per barrel.

The energy sector (+2.3%) is an early standout, while the defensive consumer staples (+0.4%) and utilities (+0.7%) sectors also trade higher after going largely overlooked in the previous two risk-on sessions.

The other eight S&P 500 sectors trade lower, with losses widest across mega-cap and tech stocks that have supported index-level growth this week. The Vanguard Mega Cap Growth ETF is down 1.3%, and the consumer discretionary (-2.1%), information technology (-1.2%), and communication services (-1.2%) sectors are among the early laggards.

Though the early losses reflect a downshift in sentiment, the major averages would need to double or even triple their current losses to negate previous strength this week fully, and stocks are already starting to tick up from their opening lows.