Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 (+0.4%), Nasdaq Composite (+0.4%), and DJIA (+0.5%) are posting broad gains this morning, sending the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite to fresh record highs while the Dow briefly eclipsed the 50,000 mark.

Tech gains continue to be a catalyst for index level growth, with the information technology sector (+1.0%) leading all S&P 500 sectors. However, today's leadership is not as tightly concentrated across semiconductor names, with the PHLX Semiconductor Index (+0.5%) holding just a modest gain.

Cisco (CSCO 115.05, +13.18, +12.94%) is surging higher after an impressive beat-and-raise earnings report (which is contributing to the DJIA's outperformance), with Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE 33.70, +1.62, +5.07%) moving higher in sympathy.

NVIDIA (NVDA 232.18, +6.35, +2.81%) continues to move higher this week, which helps offset some mega-cap weakness elsewhere.

Alphabet (GOOG 393.97, -5.07, -1.27%) is giving back some of its previous gain, which keeps the communication services sector (-0.6%) lower, while the materials sector (-0.5%) also lags. Participation in the broader market is solid compared to recent sessions, with eight S&P 500 sectors trading higher.

Just released, business inventories increased 0.9% in March (Briefing.com consensus 0.3%), from an upwardly revised prior increase of 0.5% (from 0.4%).