Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] The stock market opened to mixed action this morning, though the S&P 500 (+0.1%), Nasdaq Composite (-0.1%), and DJIA (+0.3%) are now mostly higher as participation improves.

Eight S&P 500 sectors trade higher, currently led by the communication services sector (+1.4%), which is supported by a nice rebound in Alphabet (GOOG 401.31, +7.99, +2.03%) after Friday's retreat. Similar to the broader market, action across mega-cap stocks is relatively split, and the Vanguard Mega Cap Growth (+0.1%) is up just slightly.

The information technology sector (-0.7%) is a laggard because of weakness in some of its top components. Semiconductor stocks surged at the open, sending the PHLX Semiconductor Index nearly 1.5% higher, but the gains did not hold, and the index is now down 1.3%.

Elsewhere, the energy sector (-0.6%) holds a similar loss as oil prices have retreated in response to unconfirmed reports of a potential new peace agreement between the U.S. and Iran.

Just released, the NAHB Housing Market Index for May checked in at 37 (Briefing.com consensus 34), from a prior level of 34.