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US equity markets firmer albeit losing some momentum in the final hour of trading, with all three benchmark indices touching fresh record intra-day highs - Dow settled +86-points or +0.29% higher, having been up over >200-points earlier in the session and logging a record intra-day high (30,110.88). Boeing Co gained +5.96%. The broader S&P500 dipped -0.06% after touching a fresh record intra-day peak (3,682.73) earlier in the session. Energy (up +1.07%) was again atop the primary sector leaderboard. Utilities (down -1.10%) was the worst performing primary sector. Costco Wholesale Corp fell -1.6% even though the company reported that November comparable sales rose 13.4% year over year, beating estimates of 13%.The Nasdaq added +0.23% to a fresh record closing high (12,377.18) and carving out a record intra-day high (12,439.02) earlier in the session. Tesla Inc rallied +4.32% after Goldman Sachs upgraded the stock to “buy” in the run-up to the electric car maker’s addition to the S&P 500 index. The investment bank said that it sees more than >30% upside ahead for the stock based on forecasts for a faster-than-expected shift to electric vehicles.

US equity markets settled with modest gains - Dow added +60-points or +0.18%, with Boeing Co (up +5.1%) the leading index performer. However, Salesforce.com Inc fell -8.6% after the cloud-based customer relationship-management company confirmed after the close of the previous session that it would acquire Slack Technologies Inc in a cash (US$26.79 per share) and scrip (0.0776 shares of Salesforce common stock) deal worth US$27.7B. The broader S&P500 edged +0.18% higher to log its 28th record closing high (3,669.01) of 2020. Energy (up +3.15%) returned to the top of best performing primary sectors list along with Financials (+1.05%) and Communication Services (+1.01%). The technology-centric Nasdaq slipped -0.06%, unwinding earlier gains.

US equity markets made a strong start to December, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average logging an intra-day record high and both the S&P500 and Nasdaq notching fresh record closing highs - Dow settled +185-points or +0.60% higher, having climbed over >400-points earlier in the session to a intra-day record high of . Apple Inc (up 3.1%) was the leading Dow performer. The broader S&P500 gained +1.1% to 3,662.45, with Communication Services (up +1.96%), Financials (+1.57%) and Information Technology (+1.41%) leading nine of the eleven primary sectors higher. Industrials (down -0.17%) was the only primary sector to close in the red. The technology-centric Nasdaq +1.3% to 12,355.11. Tesla Inc gained +3% after S&P Dow Jones Indices confirmed after the close of the previous session that the electric vehicle maker would be added to the S&P500 index in a single step on 21 December. Amazon.com Inc’s (up +1.64%) AWS announced a development agreement with BlackBerry (+19.25%).

US equity markets closed out a stellar month on the backfoot amid some profit taking and month-end rebalancing activity - Dow dropped -272-points or -0.91%, having been down more than >400-points earlier in the session. Travelers (down -3.6%)and Chevron Corp (-4.5%) were the worst performing stock in the Dow on the final trading day of the month. The broader S&P500 -0.46%, with Energy (down -5.37%) the worst performing primary sector overnight and logging its worst daily performance since 24 June. Exxon Mobil Corp was little changed in after hours trading (after a -5.13% fall in the regular session) after saying it will focus on a few of its near-term, oil-rich assets that show more promise, including developments in Texas's Permian Basin and in South America, as it looks to prioritise between US$16B and US$19B in capital and exploration investments next year and between US$20B and US$25B annually through 2025. The energy heavyweight said that it was writing down the value of its natural gas assets by US$17B to US$20B. Chief Executive Darren Woods sounded optimistic about the fourth quarter in a statement, saying that "the business environment" was showing "signs of improvement" despite the resurgence in COVID-19 cases and economic restrictions, adding that "Prices and margins for many of our businesses have improved from the third quarter and when coupled with continuing efforts to reduce spending and capture additional efficiencies, quarter-to-date cash flow has improved versus our plan assumptions." The Nasdaq dipped -0.06%. Advanced Micro Devices Inc (up +6.3% at US$92.66) closed at a record high after the company’s chief executive officer Lisa Su said she expects continued growth in the PC market after a pandemic boom and a better-than-seasonal first quarter in 2021 for the chip maker. Tesla Inc rallied over >4% in extended trading after S&P Dow Jones Indices confirmed it will add the electric vehicle maker to the S&P 500 at its full float-adjusted market capitalisation weight effective prior to the open of trading on Monday, December 21, 2020 rather than in tranches. S&P Dow Jones said it will announce which company will leave the S&P 500 to make room for Tesla on 11 December.

US equity and bond markets were CLOSED for the Thanksgiving Day holiday and will open for a half-day of trading tonight AEST. It is also Black Friday tonight AEST, the unofficial start of the holiday shopping season in the US.
A top executive at AstraZeneca Plc (down -0.6%) pushed back against criticism that the company failed to disclose enough data from a clinical trial of its COVID-19 vaccine earlier this week, and acknowledged scepticism about the vaccine's 90% effectiveness in a group of patients who were accidentally given a lower dose than intended. Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Pascal Soriot confirmed to Bloomberg that the British pharmaceutical giant was likely to run an additional global trial to evaluate the efficacy of its COVID-19 vaccine.

•US equity markets retreated after the all of the Dow, S&P500 and Russell 2000 indices carved out record closing highs in the previous session, with trading volumes lighter than usual ahead of the Thanksgiving Day holiday - Dow down -174-points or -0.58% at 29,872.47. The broader S&P500 slipped -0.16%, with Energy down -2.4%. The technology-centric Nasdaq gained bucked the weaker trend with a +0.48% gain and booked its first fresh record closing high (12,094.40) in three months. Tesla Inc advanced for a third straight session (and the sixth time in the past seven trading days), up +%. The electric vehicle maker’s market capitalisation is now ~US$543B, just shy of Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc at ~US$547B. The small capitalisation Russell 2000 index lost -0.46%

US equity markets continued to climb, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average trading above 30,000 for the first time - Dow rallied +455-points or +1.54% to 30,046.24, carving out both fresh record closing and intra-day (30,116.51) highs. Chevron Corp (up +5.04%), JPMorgan Chase & Co (+4.62%) and American Express Co (+3.70%) were the leading index constituents. The Dow now sits +13.38% higher in November and is on track for its biggest monthly gain since 1987. It took the Dow 218 trading days to traverse 1,000 points since closing above 29,000 for the first time on 15 January. Since hitting 29,000, Apple Inc has been the largest contributor to the Dow’s rally, alone adding 1,263 points to the index over the past 10 months - more than twice any other component. Apple’s undertook a 4-for1 stock split at the end of August, shifting it from the most influential component on a price basis in the price-weighted Dow index to the middle of the pack. The broader S&P500 +1.62% to a record closing high of 3,635.41, with Energy (up +5.16%) once again the leading primary sector performer. Real Estate (down -0.03%) was the only primary sector to settle in the red. The technology-centric Nasdaq gained +1.31%. Tesla Inc rallied to +6.43%, lifting the electric vehicle maker’s market capitalisation above >US$500B for the first time. Tesla’s rally this week has also lifted Elon Musk above Microsoft Corp billionaire Bill Gates as the world’s second richest person, according to the Bloomberg Billionaire Index, which tracks the wealth of the world’s 500 richest people. The S&P500 and Nasdaq are +11.18% and +10.31% higher respectively in November and on course for their best monthly gains since April. The small capitalisation Russell 2000 index logged its second record closing high in-a-row, up +1.93% at 1,853.46.

Another round of positive news on the coronavirus vaccine front lifted US equity markets, with cyclical stocks outperforming - Dow rallied +328-points or +1.12%, Boeing Co (up +5.97%) and Chevron Corp (+6.11%) among the leading index performers. Walt Disney Co (+3.48%), American Express Co (+3.12%) and Goldman Sachs Group Inc (+2.45%) also made solid positive contributions. A US$1 move in any of the Dow's 30 components equates to a 6.58-point swing. The broader S&P500 +0.56%, with Energy (up +7.09%) once again the clear outperformer and leading seven of the eleven primary sectors higher. Real Estate (down -0.34%) and Health Care (-0.30%) were the key laggards. The Nasdaq edged +0.22% higher. Apple Inc fell -2.97% and Netflix -2.38%. Tesla Inc (up +6.58%) moved closer toward hitting US$500B in market capitalisation ahead of its inclusion in the S&P 500 index next month. The small capitalisation Russell 2000 index outperformed with a +1.85% advance.

In more detail: US equity markets closed the week on the back foot amid a growing number of state-level shutdowns to combat rising coronavirus cases and as U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin announced late Thursday (19 November) that he would allow key pandemic-relief lending programs at the Federal Reserve to expire at the end of the year - Dow lost -220-points or -0.75% to 29,263.48. Boeing Co (down -2.94%) and Salesforce.com Inc (-2.5%) were the worst performing Dow constituents. The broader S&P500 fell -0.68%, with Information Technology (down -1.05%), Industrials (-0.91%) and Financials (-0.88%) leading ten of the eleven primary sectors lower. Utilities was the only primary sector to advance, inching +0.05% higher. Nasdaq -0.42%. The small capitalisation Russell 2000 index inched +0.07% higher. It is a shortened trading week in the US this week given the Thanksgiving Day holiday on Thursday night AEST (26 November). US equity and bond markets will be CLOSED on Thursday night AEST (26 November) and open for a half-day of trading on Friday night AEST (27 November). It is also Black Friday, the unofficial start of the holiday shopping season.

US equity markets retreated as a rise in coronavirus cases and fresh lockdown measures overshadowed some more positive news on the vaccine front - Dow lost -345-points or -1.16%, relinquishing an earlier +147-point rise. Only three Dow components – Dow Inc (+1.51%), Caterpillar Inc (+0.48%) and Salesforce.com Inc (+0.39%) advanced. Boeing Co down -3.21% despite the Federal Aviation Administration approved the return to service of the aerospace giant’s 737 MAX jets, which have been grounded since March 2019. The broader S&P500 logged its first back-to-back decline in three weeks, down -1.16%. Energy (down -2.88%) and Utilities (-1.93%) led all eleven primary sectors lower. The technology-centric Nasdaq shed -0.82%. The small capitalisation Russell 2000 index lost -1.26% after posting three record closing highs on the spin.