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Market Snapshot

https://www.briefing.com/stock-market-update

Dow 35405.50 +39.24 (0.11%)
Nasdaq 15041.84 +22.06 (0.15%)
SP 500 4496.19 +9.96 (0.22%)
10-yr Note -3/32 1.329
NYSE Adv 1885 Dec 1332 Vol 733.3 mln
Nasdaq Adv 2490 Dec 1875 Vol 3.6 bln

Industry Watch
Strong: Financials, Energy, Industrials, Materials
Weak: Health Care, Information Technology, Consumer Staples, Real Estate

Moving the Market

-- S&P 500 and Nasdaq eke out record highs as bull market continued to attract buying interest in slow, summer session

-- Relative strength in financials sector amid some curve-steepening activity

-- Lighter trading volume at the NYSE

S&P 500 and Nasdaq eke out new record highs (again)
25-Aug-21 16:15 ET
Dow +39.24 at 35405.50, Nasdaq +22.06 at 15041.84, S&P +9.96 at 4496.19

[BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 (+0.2%) and Nasdaq Composite (+0.2%) eked out intraday and closing record highs on Wednesday, as the bull market continued to attract buying interest in a lower-volume session. The S&P 500 tagged the 4,500 level for the first time but struggled to break above it.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 0.1%, and the Russell 2000 increased 0.4%.

Buyers appeared slightly more interested in the value/cyclical names, as Delta variant concerns continued to wane amid hopes that infection rates are peaking and that more people will get vaccinated. A bump in long-term interest rates corroborated the optimistic outlook: the 10-yr yield rose five basis points to 1.34%.

The S&P 500 financials sector (+1.2%) keyed off the curve-steepening activity, rising to the top of the leaderboard while the energy sector (+0.7%) continued to rebound with oil prices ($68.34, +0.84, +1.2%). The industrials (+0.6%) and materials (+0.4%) sectors rose modestly.

The semiconductor space was another pocket of relative strength, driven in part by a DigiTimes report indicating that Taiwan Semi (TSM 117.03, +4.92, +4.4%) plans to increase prices of more advanced chips by 10-20% next year. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index advanced 0.8%.

Conversely, the health care (-0.3%), information technology (-0.1%), real estate (-0.2%), and consumer staples (-0.1%) sectors underperformed with small declines as demand for defensive-oriented stocks decreased.

In other developments, Johnson & Johnson (JNJ 174.23, -1.16, -0.7%) announced interim data that supported a booster shot for its COVID-19 vaccine, the House advanced the $3.5 trillion budget resolution and the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill through procedural hurdles, and companies continued to beat earnings expectations.

Shares of Dicks Sporting Goods (DKS 129.60, +15.21, +13.3%) rose 13% following its earnings report, which included upbeat FY21 guidance, a 21% increase to its quarterly dividend, and a special dividend of $5.50 per share. Smaller retailers Nordstrom (JWN 31.14, -6.67, -17.6%) and Urban Outfitters (URBN 36.86, -3.87, -9.5%) struggled following their reports.

The CBOE Volatility Index (16.79, -0.43, -2.5%) retraced below the 17.00 level, reflecting decreased hedging interest as the major indices drifted higher on another slow, summer day. The 2-yr yield increased one basis point to 0.23%. The U.S. Dollar Index decreased 0.1% to 92.83.

Reviewing Wednesday's economic data:

Total durable goods orders declined 0.1% month-over-month in July (Briefing.com consensus -0.3%) and orders, excluding transportation, increased 0.7% (Briefing.com consensus +0.3%) following an upwardly revised 0.6% increase (from 0.3%) in June. On a year-over-year basis, durable goods orders were up 25.3%, while orders, excluding transportation, were up 17.7%.
The key takeaway from the report is that nondefense capital goods orders, excluding aircraft -- a proxy for business spending -- were flat after increasing 1.0% in June.
The weekly MBA Mortgage Applications Index increased 1.6% following a 3.9% decline in the prior week.

Looking ahead, investors will receive the second estimate for Q2 GDP and the weekly Initial Claims and Continuing Claims report on Thursday.

S&P 500 +19.7% YTD
Nasdaq Composite +16.7% YTD
Dow Jones Industrial Average +15.7% YTD
Russell 2000 +13.4% YTD

Crude futures
25-Aug-21 15:25 ET
Dow +43.23 at 35409.49, Nasdaq +24.01 at 15043.79, S&P +11.06 at 4497.29

[BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 is up 0.3% and on track to close at a record high. Trading volume is below average at the NYSE, with only 410,000 million shares traded with 30 minutes left in the session.

One last look at the S&P 500 sectors shows financials (+1.3%) as the only sector up or down more than 1.0%. The top-weighted information technology sector (-0.1%) drags on the market with a small decline.

WTI crude futures settled higher by 1.2%, or $0.84, to $68.34 per barrel.