It’s a choppy day following the strong action seen in the last two days. The session appears more a characteristic of consolidation than a broader shift of sentiment. At the open of the gate, the S&P 500 and Dow Jones claimed fresh all-time highs.

Five sectors are trading higher this afternoon with Materials (XLB) leading as metals surge. Gold and Silver are seeing nice breakouts this morning, a move that began last night but the weak July ADP Jobs and progress on Hormuz trimmed rate-hike bets. Health Care (XLV) is the second-best performer driven by strong gains in Eli Lilly and Company (LLY), who reported better-than-expected Q2 results driven by its GLP-1 drug.  The defensive sectors: Utilities (XLU) and Consumer Staples (XLP) continue to underperform while the Energy sector (XLE) sits again near the bottom as crude oil retreats.

A new day, a new story. Core and growth taking the lead with the argument for owning large caps based on valuations continues to lure more buyers this afternoon.

Google (GOOG) is adding pressure on Nasdaq after reports that Google Chief Scientist Jeff Dean will depart to launch his own startup focused on scientific discovery.

Economic Data

The ISM Services PMI came in unchanged at 54.1. The results were a bit stagflationary with new orders, business activity and prices on the rise, while Employment fell into negative territory.

Comments were mixed, ranging from business picking up among smaller firms to challenges with lumber supply and freight rates.

ADP came at +44k following a downwardly revised 95k gain in June, and well under the +65k expected.

By company size, gains were broad in July, with firms employing 20 to 49 workers the only establishment size to report a decline in payrolls.

Education and health services drove a significant portion of private payroll gains in July.