The stock market traded lower on a broad basis for most of the session, but late-afternoon strength in select technology and mega-cap stocks lifted the Nasdaq Composite (+0.2%), sparing the major averages from an across-the-board decline.

The S&P 500 (-0.2%) and DJIA (-0.6%) spent only a brief amount of time this morning in positive territory before retreating. Participation was weak across the market today, a stark contrast to the broad-market rotational strength seen in recent sessions of tech underperformance. The Russell 2000 (-0.3%) and S&P Mid Cap 400 (-0.5%) also underperformed in today's action.

Eight S&P 500 sectors finished lower, with losses largely modest aside from a few notable laggards. 

The energy sector (-3.0%) faced the widest loss as swelling optimism around a potential Russia-Ukraine peace deal saw oil prices fall as the market anticipates Russia's return to the global oil market. Crude oil futures settled today's session $1.53 lower (-2.7%) at $55.29 per barrel, the lowest finish since early 2021. Phillips 66 (PSX 131.77, -9.74, -6.88%) and Marathon Petroleum (MPC 176.78, -8.73, -4.71%) were among the worst-performing S&P 500 names today. 

The health care sector (-1.3%) was the other outlier, facing some pressure after outperforming in yesterday's trade. Health insurance names such as Humana (HUM 258.14, -16.60, -6.04%) and Centene (CNC 38.96, -1.49, -3.68%) were also S&P 500 laggards. NBC News reported that the House will not vote on an extension of the Affordable Care Act subsidies, which effectively guarantees that they will expire at the end of the year. 

Pfizer (PFE 25.54, -0.89, -3.37%) also had a tough session after the company reaffirmed its FY25 EPS guidance but trimmed its revenue outlook while issuing FY26 EPS guidance that came up short of analyst expectations. 

Losses were contained to 1.0% or narrower in the six other S&P 500 sectors that closed lower, with the majority seeing improvement late in the session. 

In the case of the information technology (+0.3%), consumer discretionary (+0.3%), and communication services (+0.2%) sectors, the late afternoon action could be more accurately described as a modest rally. Each sector had several forays into modestly positive territory today as a handful of mega-cap names traded higher, but a sharp move higher in the last hour or so of today's action reflected a more concentrated buy-the-dip bid effort. 

The information technology sector (+0.3%) saw its seven largest components finish higher, with Oracle (ORCL 188.56, +3.64, +1.97%) and Broadcom (AVGO 341.30, +1.49, +0.44%) finally seeing some relief from last week's post-earnings slide. 

In the consumer discretionary sector (+0.3%), Tesla (TSLA 489.88, +14.57, +3.07%) was a standout across mega-cap names for the second consecutive day, reaching an all-time high this afternoon. 

The communication services sector (+0.2%) also benefitted from strong leadership in one of its largest components, Meta Platforms (META 657.15, +9.64, +1.49%). Elsewhere in the sector, Comcast (CMCSA 29.73, +1.52, +5.39%) finished with the widest gain across mega-cap names after CNBC's David Faber said that swaps trading might indicate there is an activist investor involved. 

The Vanguard Mega Cap Growth ETF (+0.4%) ended the day with a solid gain, helping the market-weighted S&P 500 (-0.2%) outperform the S&P 500 Equal Weighted Index (-0.7%). 

The market's action over the past two sessions highlights a back-and-forth dynamic as investors search for fresh catalysts in the wake of the December FOMC meeting. Yesterday, weakness in technology and mega-cap names contrasted with broad-market strength, while today the opposite was true: tech and select mega-caps provided late-session support even as the broader market struggled. This rotation underscores a market still probing for direction as the end of the year approaches.

On the data front, the market finally received the Employment Situation report for November (64,000; Briefing.com consensus 30,000), which beat expectations by a solid margin, but it also followed the loss of 105,000 nonfarm payrolls in October. The Retail Sales report for October was released at the same time, showing no headline growth (Briefing.com consensus 0.3%) while sales excluding autos increased 0.4% (Briefing.com consensus 0.3%).

While the data was the first comprehensive look at the labor market since last week's FOMC meeting, it did little to change the market's expectations for additional easing in the near term. 

U.S. Treasuries continued their upbeat start to the week with a Tuesday advance that endured some early volatility before a finish near session highs. The 2-year note yield settled down three basis points to 3.48%, and the 10-year note yield settled down three basis points to 4.15%. 

• Nasdaq Composite: +19.7% YTD
• S&P 500: +15.6% YTD
• DJIA: +13.1% YTD
• Russell 2000: +13.0% YTD
• S&P Mid Cap 400: +6.5% YTD

Reviewing today's data:

• November Nonfarm Payrolls 64K (Briefing.com consensus 30K); Prior -105K,November Nonfarm Private Payrolls 69K (Briefing.com consensus 34K); Prior 52K, November Unemployment Rate 4.6% (Briefing.com consensus 4.4%); Prior 4.4%, November Avg. Hourly Earnings 0.1% (Briefing.com consensus 0.3%); Prior 0.4%, November Average Workweek 34.3 (Briefing.com consensus 34.3); Prior 34.2
  • The key takeaway from the employment report will be the bump in the official unemployment rate and the softening in the U-6 unemployment rate. Both have helped substantiate the Fed's concerns about downside risk to employment that served as the basis for the December cut.
• October Retail Sales 0.0% (Briefing.com consensus 0.3%); Prior was revised to 0.1% from 0.2%, October Retail Sales ex-auto 0.4% (Briefing.com consensus 0.3%); Prior was revised to 0.1% from 0.3%
  • The key takeaway from the report is that there were solid increases in spending across many discretionary spending categories. The notable exceptions were building material and garden equipment and supplies dealers sales (-0.9%) and food services and drinking places (-0.4%). Department store sales (+4.9%), on the other hand, had a big month along with furniture and home furnishings (+2.3%), sporting goods (+1.9%) and nonstore retailers (+1.8%).
• September Housing Starts DELAYED (Briefing.com consensus 1.320 mln); Prior 1.307 mln, September Building Permits DELAYED (Briefing.com consensus 1.348 mln); Prior 1.312 mln
  • The key takeaway from the report is the weakness in single-unit starts (-7.0% month-over-month) and single-unit permits (-2.2%), which is a reflection of affordability constraints for builders and prospective homeowners alike. Strikingly, single-unit starts in the South-the nation's largest homebuilding region-plunged 17.0% in August.
• December S&P Global U.S. Manufacturing PMI - Prelim 51.8; Prior 52.2
• December S&P Global U.S. Services PMI - Prelim 52.9; Prior 54.1
• September Business Inventories 0.2% (Briefing.com consensus 0.1%); Prior 0.0%