US equity markets declined on Friday (29 August), with declines for artificial intelligence (AI) related stocks weighing particularly heavily on the benchmark indices as investors also parsed the latest inflation figures - Dow eased -92-points or +0.20% after booking Caterpillar Inc (down -3.65%) was the worst performer in the 30-stock index a day after the maker of big farm and construction equipment warned tariffs would negatively impact its full year result by a greater amount (US$1.5B to US$1.8B) than previously forecast earlier this month when releasing its second quarter result (US$1.3B to US$1.5B). Nvidia Corp fell -3.32%, with The Wall Street Journal reporting that Alibaba Group Holdings has developed a new chip that it’s now testing and that could be a domestic replacement for Nvidia’s H20. Unlike a previous AI processor that relied on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. for fabrication, Alibaba’s new chip is being manufactured directly in China, according to the report. The U.S. government has restricted TSMC from shipping advanced AI chips to Chinese customers. American Express Co (+1.31%) and JPMorgan Chase & Co (up +0.12%) touched record all-time highs.