The stock market had a somewhat choppy start to the week, with mixed strength in the broader market weighing against another session of semiconductor leadership. The S&P 500 (+0.2%), Nasdaq Composite (+0.2%), and DJIA (+0.1%) finished modestly higher, though it was enough to secure record highs for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite.

The PHLX Semiconductor started the week with a 2.3% gain, helping the top-weighted information technology sector (+0.8%) secure a higher finish. Lumentum (LITE 1053.09, +149.29, +16.52%) was the best-performing S&P 500 component after headlines that the stock will join the Nasdaq 100 Index next Monday, May 18, while Coherent (COHR 379.69, +44.43, +13.25%) and Qualcomm (QCOM 237.53, +18.44, +8.42%) advanced after Bloomberg reported executives from both companies were invited to President Trump's China trip later this week.

Memory names also posted impressive gains, and NVIDIA (NVDA 219.44, +4.24, +1.97%) was a "magnificent seven" standout amid a mostly lower session for the group. Tesla (TSLA 445.08, +16.73, +3.91%) was another notable exception to this trend, limiting broad losses in the consumer discretionary sector (-0.6%).

Electronic production equipment names such as Vertiv (VRT 367.92, +27.95, +8.22%) also traded higher as investors increasingly view the AI-buildout cycle as a catalyst for the group, helping the industrials sector (+1.0%) notch a solid gain today.

The materials sector (+1.4%) was another top mover as chemical and precious metal companies outperformed, while the energy sector (+2.6%) captured the widest gain amid an increase in oil prices.

President Trump lamented Iran's response to the latest U.S. peace proposal as "totally unacceptable", later telling reporters that the ceasefire with Iran is now on "massive life support." Crude oil futures settled today's session $2.68 higher (+2.8%) at $98.07 per barrel.

Five S&P 500 sectors traded lower today, though the losses were relatively modest. Only the communication services sector (-2.3%) finished with a loss of 1.0% or wider, facing pressure across multiple notable components. Alphabet (GOOG 386.77, -10.28, -2.59%) was a mega-cap laggard, while Netflix (NFLX 85.45, -2.04, -2.33%) moved lower after the Texas Attorney General filed a suit against the company, and The Trade Desk (TTD 21.52, -1.56, -6.76%) faced pressure after HSBC downgraded the stock to Reduce from Hold.

Meanwhile, Fox (FOX 61.18, +4.58, +8.09%) outperformed after topping earnings estimates.

This week is notably lighter on the earnings front, with only 11 S&P 500 companies set to report results. While earnings growth has largely exceeded expectations and provided the market with a major tailwind, focus could shift back towards geopolitical volatility and energy prices, especially given tomorrow's release of the April CPI report (Briefing.com consensus 0.6%). Despite the relatively subdued finish, continued semiconductor leadership and resilience at the index level kept the broader uptrend intact.

U.S. Treasuries started the week on a lower note with the belly leading a Monday slide that lifted yields back to levels from last Tuesday. The U.S. Treasury kicked off this week's note auction slate with a weak sale of $58 bln in 3-year notes ahead of tomorrow's $42 bln 10-year note auction. The 2-year note yield settled up six basis points to 3.95%, and the 10-year note yield settled up five basis points to 4.41%.

• Russell 2000: +15.7% YTD
• Nasdaq Composite: +13.1% YTD
• S&P Mid Cap 400: +11.6% YTD
• S&P 500: +8.3% YTD
• DJIA: +3.4% YTD

Reviewing today's data:

• April Existing Home Sales 4.02 mln (Briefing.com consensus 4.05 mln); Prior was revised to 4.01 mln from 3.98 mln
  
  • The key takeaway from the report is that affordability conditions improved, with mortgage rates lower than a year ago and average income gains exceeding home price gains, yet overall sales activity remained tepid. The exact reason why is hard to pinpoint. A range of factors could be pertinent, from tight supply and not being able to find the right home to a bet that mortgage rates will come down more or to fraying confidence in job security.