The market opened lower on the day, and has been rather volatile throughout the day. The Dow now sits in the red by 48 points, and the S&P 500 is down 5 points. The tech heavy Nasdaq is the star of the day so far, gaining 11 points. Earlier this morning the Commerce Department reported that the gross domestic product, the broadest measure of economic health in the United States, expanded by 4 percent in the second quarter. Expectations were for the number to come it around 3.4%. This marked the fastest GDP growth in a quarter since the first three months of 2006. Improving trade deficits were largely behind the GDP coming in above 
expectations. Also important to note was the core gross domestic product number, an important gauge of inflation in the country, came in at just 2%, which should give the Fed some room to cut interest rates.
The technology sector has gained about 1% on the day thus far, and is the clear market leader. Cisco Systems Inc (NASDAQ:CSCO) is up 3% on the day, while Motorola Inc (NASDAQ:MOT) shares are higher by 3.22%. Other notable Nasdaq names rising are Electronic Arts Inc (NASDAQ:ERTS) up by 3%, and Broadcom Corporation (NASDAQ:BRCM) higher by 3.2%.
Construction and agriculture machinery stocks are also higher on the day, continuing their recent strong performance. Manitowoc Company Inc. (NYSE:MTW) is up by 3.8%, and Deere and Company (NYSE:DE) is up by 1.5% after planning a 2 for 1 stock split and raising the company dividend.
Some notable financial stocks are quite weak on the day so far. Freddie Mac (NYSE:FRE) currently trades lower by 4.6% after a disappointing earnings report. National City Corporation (NYSE:NCC) is lower by 2.68% after the Fed gave the okay to the company's bid for MAF Bancorp (NASDAQ:MAFB).
Volume on the exchanges is fairly light again today, though the NASDAQ has experienced a heavier volume day relative to the NYSE. The rest of the day today as well as tommorrow will likely be lightly traded as investors get ready for the long holiday weekend. The market will be closed Monday for Labor Day. Next week is likely to be a more heavily traded week on the major indices.
Because there will be fewer particants the rest of the day today and tommorrow, volatility could be quite high on the exchanges.
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