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Update 04/06/2026
— Stocks finished mostly higher today as rotational buying across the broader market helped offset a pullback in tech names. The weakness across technology stocks kept the Nasdaq Composite (-0.1%) without a gain for the day, but broader support sent the DJIA (+1.8%) to fresh record highs while the S&P 500 (+0.4%) also notched a decent gain. —Tech stocks were poised for a lower session following decisive moves lower from Broadcom (AVGO 418.91, -60.32, -12.59%), Ciena (CIEN 535.63, -84.74, -13.66%), and CrowdStrike (CRWD 719.09, -28.52, -3.81%) following their earnings reports.—Broadcom in particular set the stage for a weaker showing across semiconductor names, with the PHLX Semiconductor Index retreating 2.2%. However, it is worth noting that the index finished much improved from the early weakness that saw it retreat nearly 6% this morning.—Meanwhile, the consumer staples sector (-0.1%) was the only other S&P 500 sector to close with a loss as nine sectors finished at or above their baselines. —The health care sector was the top mover today as nearly all of its components traded higher, with managed care names such as Humana (HUM 349.89, +22.35, +6.82%) and UnitedHealth (UNH 396.47, +19.47, +5.16%) leading the advance. —The financials sector (+2.6%) posted a similar gain, with major banking names notching solid gains while asset managers such as Blackstone (BX 118.55, +8.27, +7.50%) traded even higher following a manageable BCRED redemption update that reassured investors about private credit flows and demand. —Notably, the financials and health care sectors are the worst-performing S&P 500 sectors on a year-to-date basis, highlighting the rotational aspect of today's action.—Elsewhere, the communication services sector (+2.1%) outperformed as investors bought into the recent dip in Alphabet (GOOG 369.37, +13.69, +3.85%) that followed the announcement of an $84.75 billion equity capital raise to expand AI infrastructure and compute.—Outside of the S&P 500, the Russell 2000 (+1.5%) outperformed as Treasury yields moved lower, while the S&P Mid Cap 400 (+0.4%) captured a more modest gain. —Overall, today's session reflected a healthy broadening in market participation, with investors rotating into financials, health care, and other previously lagging groups as technology stocks took a breather. The ability of the S&P 500 and DJIA to advance despite a notable semiconductor pullback suggests underlying market sentiment remains constructive, particularly as investors continue to buy weakness rather than retreat from risk assets. —U.S. Treasuries traded with a positive bias in the overnight session before losing some strength in the cash session. Yields, however, were still lower across the board, with the front end to the intermediate end of the curve exhibiting relative strength in a bull-steepener trade. The 2-year note yield settled down four basis points to 4.05%, and the 10-year note yield settled down one basis point to 4.48%.
Russell 2000: +18.3% YTD
Nasdaq Composite: +15.4% YTD
S&P Mid Cap 400: +13.9% YTD
S&P 500: + 10.8% YTD
DJIA: +7.3% YTD
—Reviewing today's data:
Q1 Productivity-Rev. 0.3% (Briefing.com consensus 0.8%); Prior 0.8%, Q1 Unit Labor Costs-Rev. 1.8% (Briefing.com consensus 2.3%); Prior 2.3%
The key takeaway from the report is the understanding that productivity has picked up nicely from a year ago (+2.8%), while unit labor costs (+0.5%) have come down, tempering concerns about labor-based inflation pressures.
Weekly Initial Claims 225K (Briefing.com consensus 216K); Prior was revised to 212K from 215K, Weekly Continuing Claims 1.777 mln; Prior was revised to 1.785 mln from 1.786 mln
The key takeaway from the report is that there isn't any concerning key takeaway. Granted, initial jobless claims-a leading indicator-were up from the prior week, but they remain at levels that are consistent with an otherwise solid labor market.

Update 01/06/2026
— The major averages closed higher on Monday, with the S&P 500 (+0.3%), Nasdaq Composite (+0.4%), and DJIA (+0.1%) all setting fresh record highs during the session as investors navigated a sharp jump in oil prices and another round of AI-driven technology leadership. —Early trading was shaped by a surge in crude oil following reports that Iran had stopped messaging the U.S. in protest of Israel's strikes in Lebanon. Oil prices remained elevated throughout the session, although they pared their worst levels after President Trump stated on Truth Social that discussions with Iran were continuing "at a rapid pace." WTI crude oil futures ultimately settled up $4.77 (+5.5%) at $92.19 per barrel. —Despite the gains in the major averages, market participation was relatively narrow. The information technology sector (+2.5%) was the clear leader and provided much of the market's upside support. NVIDIA (NVDA 224.36, +13.22, +6.26%) and Microsoft (MSFT 460.52, +10.28, +2.28%) remained focal points after announcing a partnership to develop a secure Windows platform for on-device AI agents, while Dell (DELL 466.02, +45.11, +10.72%) also benefited from the news. —Elsewhere in the sector software stocks extended their recent momentum as well, with the iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF (IGV) jumping 5.9%. —Outside of technology and energy (+1.9%) sectors, the tone was less encouraging. Rising energy prices pressured several oil- and rate-sensitive areas of the market, limiting participation beneath the surface. The consumer discretionary (-2.6%) and utilities (-3.1%) sectors finished sharply lower, with nine total S&P 500 sectors posting a loss.—Broader market measures generally lagged the major averages despite the record highs, with the Russell 2000 (-0.5%) and S&P Mid Cap 400 (-0.1%) retreating modestly. —Corporate news contributed to several notable individual stock moves. MGM Resorts (MGM 50.69, +7.02, +16.08%) surged after confirming it received an acquisition proposal from IAC, while Taylor Morrison Home (TMHC 71.55, +13.05, +22.31%) rallied following Berkshire Hathaway Inc.'s (BRK-B 470.28, -4.21, -0.89%) agreement to acquire the homebuilder in an $8.5 billion all-cash transaction.—Separately, FedEx (FDX 338.49, -73.26, -17.79%) completed the spin-off of FedEx Freight (FDXF 149.53, -10.84, -6.76%), which began trading as an independent public company. —In conclusion, record highs across the major averages masked another session of narrow leadership, as enthusiasm surrounding AI-related technology stocks proved strong enough to overcome the headwinds created by higher oil prices and lingering geopolitical uncertainty.—U.S. Treasuries started June with losses in most tenors, though the market put up a fight, finishing the session closer to the day's opening levels than session lows. The 2-year note yield settled up four basis points to 4.05%, and the 10-year note yield settled up two basis points to 4.48%. —Reviewing today's data:
May S&P Global U.S. Manufacturing PMI - Final 55.1 (May Prelim was 55.3)
April Construction Spending: 0.4% vs Briefing.com consensus of 0.3%; March was revised to 0.2% from 0.6%
The key takeaway from the report is that it included a sharp downward revision to growth rate from March (0.2%), resulting in a weak report overall. New single-family construction spending increased a solid 1.4% in April but was still down 2.9% year-over-year.
May ISM Manufacturing Index 54.0% vs Briefing.com consensus of 53.1%; April was 52.7
The key takeaway from the report is that it continued showing some stagflationary elements for the second consecutive month, as employment remained in contraction-though at a slower rate-while the prices index only dipped slightly from its sharpest increase since early 2022.

Update 25/05/2026
— The S&P 500 (+0.4%), Nasdaq Composite (+0.2%), and DJIA (+0.6%) traded in a relatively stable range today, locking in weekly gains that extend the S&P 500's winning streak to eight weeks and pushing the DJIA to fresh record highs. The Russell 2000 (+0.9%) and S&P Mid Cap 400 (+0.8%) outperformed.—Despite mixed performances across mega-cap stocks and heightened expectations for a rate hike later in the year, the broader market showed resilience, with nine S&P 500 sectors finishing higher.—Earnings and several other corporate news items of note contributed to the advance. —Within the information technology sector (+0.5%), hardware names such as Dell (DELL 295.25, +42.45, +16.79%) and HP Inc. (HPQ 25.24, +3.34, +15.27%) led the way after rival Lenovo (LNVGY 39.96, +6.04, +17.81%) posted an encouraging earnings report. —Workday (WDAY 128.14, +6.29, +5.16%) moved higher after topping its own earnings estimates, which contributed to strength across software names in the iShares GS Software ETF (IGV 93.98, +1.50, +1.62%). —It is worth noting the PHLX Semiconductor Index (+1.9%) posted a solid gain as well, though NVIDIA (NVDA 215.33, -4.18, -1.90%) has yet to garner any buy-the-dip interest following its own earnings report earlier in the week, which somewhat limited the technology sector's gain today.—Alphabet (GOOG 379.38, -4.09, -1.07%) was the other mega-cap laggard today, which contributed to weakness in the communication services sector (-0.7%). The Vanguard Mega Cap Growth ETF (+0.2%) finished modestly higher. —The broader market, however, traded in a stable range, which contributed to the outperformance of the S&P 500 Equal Weighted Index (+1.0%) relative to the market-weighted S&P 500 (+0.4%). —The health care sector (+1.2%) captured the widest gain as Merck (MRK 122.42, +6.54, +5.64%) moved higher following some positive updates to its oncology drugs, while the utilities sector (+0.8%) was supported by strength in electric utilities names. —The industrials sector (+0.7%) rounds out today's top performers, with Generac (GNRC 270.21, +22.42, +9.05%) trading sharply higher after Jefferies upgraded the stock to Buy from Hold.—Importantly, stocks showed resilience despite some hawkish developments on the monetary policy front. Fed Governor Christopher Waller (voting FOMC member) said that he would need to see considerable improvements in inflation to consider a rate reduction, which weighed on shorter-tenor Treasury yields today. Inflation concerns were also reflected in the final May reading for the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index, which fell to a record-low 44.8 as rising gas prices helped push year-ahead inflation expectations to an elevated 4.8%. —The CME FedWatch Tool is now assigning a 52.7% probability to a rate hike at the October FOMC meeting, with that probability rising to 74% by the January 2027 meeting.—That backdrop creates a challenging environment for new Fed Chair Kevin Warsh, who was sworn in today. —For the time being, stocks continue to draw support from solid earnings results and generally stable oil prices, with crude oil ultimately retreating for the week despite several bouts of geopolitical volatility. The market also heads into the weekend with little in the way of material developments surrounding U.S.-Iran negotiations, though Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that "slight progress" has been made in talks between the two sides.—As a reminder, the market will be closed Monday, May 25, for Memorial Day. —U.S. Treasuries had a mixed showing to end the week with the 5-year note and shorter tenors recording losses while 10s and 30s outperformed, finishing in the green. The Treasury complex was eager to continue trimming this week's losses at the start of the session, but the higher open was rebuffed quickly, sending shorter tenors into the red in mid-morning trade. The 2-year note yield settled up two basis points to 4.12% (+4 basis points this week), and the 10-year note yield settled down three basis points to 4.56% (-4 basis points this week).
Russell 2000: +15.6% YTD
Nasdaq Composite: +13.4% YTD
S&P Mid Cap 400: +11.1% YTD
S&P 500: +9.2% YTD
DJIA: +5.2% YTD
—Reviewing today's data:
The final reading for the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index for May dropped to 44.8 (Briefing.com consensus: 48.2) from the preliminary reading of 48.2, marking a new historic low. The final reading for April was 49.8. In the same period a year ago, the index stood at 52.2.
The key takeaway from the report is that consumers are clearly concerned about rising costs and their ability to out-earn inflation, which they are concerned will increase beyond fuel prices.
The April leading Economic Index checked in at 0.1% (Briefing.com consensus -0.3%), from the prior reading of -0.6%.