Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 (+0.3%), Nasdaq Composite (+0.5%), and DJIA (+0.6%) are modestly higher just before midday amid a rebound in semiconductor stocks and strong participation in the broader market.

The PHLX Semiconductor Index (+3.4%) is firmly higher, with Intel (INTC 112.36, +5.32, +4.97%) a notable standout after Bank of America Securities upgraded the stock to Buy from Underperform, with a target price of $135.

However, the information technology sector (+0.5%) as a whole has faced relatively choppy action as Oracle (ORCL 179.24, -22.02, -10.94%) leads software stocks lower after its earnings release, while mega-cap stocks in general continue to experience elevated volatility.

Alphabet (GOOG 344.69, -8.63, -2.44%) in particular continues to struggle, which contributes to weakness in the communication service sector (-1.8%), the only S&P 500 sector with a loss wider than 0.1%.

Meanwhile, the industrials sector outperforms (+1.6%), supported by several rebounds across underperforming groups yesterday. Electrical product names such as Generac (GNRC 253.01, +13.90, +5.81%) rise in unison with semiconductors, while Trucking names such as FedEx Freight (FDXF 186.62, +11.27, +6.43%) rebound from yesterday's losses that followed an announcement from Amazon (AMZN 236.94, -1.06, -0.45%) that the company is entering the less-than-truckload space.