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The Dow and S&P500 pulled back from records, with the latest data confirming a slowdown in retail sales - Dow fell -167-points or -0.56%, having been down over >400-points at its worst levels of the session. Boeing Co rose +3.78% on reports that the Federal Aviation Administration is planning to recertify the 737 Max as soon as Wednesday (18 November).The broader S&P500 lost -0.48%, with Utilities (down 2.01%) and Health Care (--1.0%) leading nine of the eleven primary sector lower. Energy (up +0.5%) and Real Estate (+0.12%) were the only primary sectors to advance. Pharmacy owner CVS Health Corp (down -8.62%) and Dow-member Walgreens Boots Alliance (-9.63%) dropped after Amazon.com Inc (up +0.15%) launched a pharmacy business, which allows free delivery of medications for Prime members. Tesla Inc rallied +8.21% after S&P Dow Jones confirmed after the close of the previous session that the electric vehicle maker will be added to the S&P500 at the next index re-balance on 21 December Nasdaq -0.19%. The small capitalisation Russell 2000 index logged its third straight record closing high, rising +0.37% to 1,791.91.

More positive news on the coronavirus front lifted US equity markets to fresh records - Dow rallied +471-points or +1.6% to 29,950.44, logging both record intra-day (29,559.25) and closing highs. Boeing Co (up +8.17%) and Chevron Corp (+7.14%) were the leading index performers. It was the first all-time high for the Dow since February and the latest climb marked the fastest rebound from a bear-market low for the benchmark in about three decades, according to Dow Jones Market Data.

US equity markets rallied solidly on Friday night AEST (13 November), with the S&P500 notching a record closing high - Dow up +400-points or +1.37%. Walt Disney Co rose +2.1% after posting a smaller-than-expected fourth quarter loss (-US$0.20c per share on revenue of US$14.71B versus consensus estimates for a loss of -US$0.71c on revenue of US$14.2B) after the close of Thursday’s (12 November) session and reported 73M paid subscribers for its streaming service, Disney+. The broader S&P500 gained +1.36% to a record closing of 3,585.15. Energy (up +3.81%), Real Estate (+2.28%) and Industrials (+2.15%) led all eleven primary sectors higher. Information Technology (up +0.86%) and Utilities (+0.92%) were the relative laggards with gains of less than

•US equity markets weaker amid fresh new daily records for COVID-19 cases in the US and Europe and further lockdown measures - Dow fell -317-points or -1.08% . The broader S&P500 -1.%, with the decline leaving the index just 0.8% above last Friday’s (6 November) closing level of 3,509.44. Energy (down -3.39%) and Materials (-2.17%) led all elven primary sectors lower. Travel (United Airlines Holdings Inc down -4.31%, Carnival Corp -7.9%) and banking (JPMorgan Chase & Co down -1.23%, Citigroup Inc -1.33% and Wells Fargo & Co -1.57%) stocks among the biggest laggards. The technology-centric Nasdaq lost -0.7%.

US equity markets firmer amid a reversal of the rotation out of growth stocks into value names that has unfolded over the past two sessions - Dow settled -23-points or -0.08% lower, with American Express Co (down -4.17%), Boeing Co (-3.47%) and Walt Disney Co (-3.02%) the major drags on the index. The broader S&P500 rose +0.77%, with Information Technology (up +2.41%) and Consumer Discretionary (+1.50%) the leading primary sector performers after being at the back of the pack for the past two sessions. Materials (down -1.37%), Industrials (-0.88%) and Energy (-0.84%) underperformed overnight. The technology-centric Nasdaq rebounded +2.01%. Among the big technology names, Amazon.com Inc gaining +3.37%, Apple Inc +3.04%, Google-parent Alphabet Inc +0.71%, Microsoft Corp +2.63%, Facebook Inc +1.49% and Netflix Inc +2.19%. The small capitalisation Russell 2000 index was flat.

US equity markets settled on a mixed note as the rotation out of technology stocks into value-oriented and small-capitalisation stocks continued for a second session - Dow up +263-points or +0.90% Boeing Co (up +5.2%) and energy heavyweight Exxon Mobil Corp +4.6% and Chevron Corp (+4.62%) were among the strongest performers. The broader S&P500 slipped -0.14%. Information Technology (down -1.94%) and Consumer Discretionary (-1.11%) were the worst performing sectors for a second session in-a-row, while Energy (up +2.52%) was again the leading primary sector performer. Lowes Companies Inc rose +1.5% after the company refuted a Bloomberg report that it was in talks to buy industrial products distributor HD Supply (+0.98%). American Airlines Group Inc pulled back -6.2% after the air carrier said it proposed a public offering of 38.5M shares of common stock to raise ~US$508M. The company plans to use the proceeds from the offering for general corporate purposes and to enhance the company's liquidity position. Carnival Corp fell -13.1% after the cruise operator revealed a proposed stock offering program valued at up to US$1.5B. The filing to sell more shares comes after the stock soared 28.8% on Monday (9 November), and less than two weeks after the completion of its previous US$1B stock offering program. The technology-centric Nasdaq fell -1.32%. Amazon.com Inc fell -3.5% as the company faces antitrust charges from the European Union (EU) over the use of merchant data on its platforms, and the bloc has opened another investigation into the e-commerce company, in the latest move to regulate technology giants in Europe. Google parent Alphabet Inc -1.4% and Microsoft Corp -3.4%. Zoom Video Communications Inc fell -9.01% to be down ~25% over the past two sessions. The small-capitalisation Russell 2000 index closed +1.8% higher, recording its biggest one-day outperformance against the Nasdaq Composite on records dating back to 1986, according to Dow Jones Market Data.

US equity markets soared after biotechnology companies Pfizer Inc (up +7.69%) and BioNTech SE (13.91%) announced that their COVID-19 vaccine candidate achieved "success" in the first interim analysis of a Phase 3 study. - Dow jumped +835-points or +2.95% to 29,157.97, logging its biggest one day climb since 5 June. The Dow hit an all-time high earlier in the session, surging more than >1,600-points or ~5.7% to 29,933.83. American Express Co rallied +21.39%, Boeing Co +13.7%, JPMorgan Chase +13.5% and Walt Disney Company +11.9%. The broader S&P500 +1.17% to 3,550 and also touched a record intra-day high. The Energy sector (up +14.22%) led seven of the eleven primary sectors higher, while Consumer Discretionary (down -1.59%) and Information Technology (0.73%) underperformed. Companies likely to benefit from a re-opening of the economy prospered on the vaccine news, with airlines (United Airlines Holdings Inc up +19.15%, American Airlines Group Inc +15.18%, Southwest Airlines Co +9.70%) and cruise lines (Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd up +28.79% and Carnival Corp +39.29%) The technology-centric Nasdaq fell -1.53%, with the so-called ‘stay-at-home’ stocks struggling. The Nasdaq-100 index - composed off the 100 biggest components of the Nasdaq Composite – fell -2.2% and snapping a five-session win streak. Zoom Video Communications Inc tumbled -17.37%, Netflix Inc -8.59% and Amazon.com Inc -5.06%. The small capitalisation Russell 2000 index gained +3.7%.

US equity markets settled little changed after a strong week post a deadlocked presidential election - Dow -67-points or -0.24% . UnitedHealth Group Inc (down -1.96%) was the worst performing Dow constituent. The broader S&P500 dipped -0.03%, with Energy (down -2.14%) and Financials (-0.81%) the key primary sector drags and offsetting gains for Consumer Staples (up +0.44%) and Information Technology (+0.30%). T-Mobile US Inc gained +5.37% after reporting that a surge of new subscribers helped it to deliver strong third-quarter results after the close of last Thursday’s session that prompted broker upgrades. Nasdaq inched +0.04% higher. Streaming company Roku Inc jumped +12.57% after logging a much better-than-expected third quarter result after the close of the previous session. The company on posted earnings per share (EPS) of US$0.09 cents on US$452M in revenue versus analysts’ projections for a loss of -US$0.40c and US$366M revenue. Roku did not provide formal fourth quarter guidance but said it expects quarterly revenue to grow in the mid-40% range year over year.

US stocks jumped on Thursday on hopes the winner of the U.S. presidential and congressional election would soon be determined, with shares of major tech-related companies leading the gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 542.52 points higher, or 1.95%, at 28,390.18. Earlier in the day, the 30-stock average was higher by more than 600 points. The S&P 500 climbed 1.95% to 3,150.45 and the tech centric Nasdaq Composite advanced 2.6% to 11,890.93. Thursday also marked the first time since 1982 that the Dow and S&P 500 rose at least 1% on four straight sessions.

US equity markets rallied strongly but closed off their best levels of the session as the predicted Democratic ‘Blue Wave’ failed to materialize albeit the presidential election race remains extremely tight - Dow +368-points or +1.34%, having been up over >800-points at its best levels of the session. The broader S&P500 +2.20%, paring an earlier rally of as much as +3.5%. The S&P Healthcare index (up +4.45%) jumped to a record high Pfizer Inc (up +3.15%), Merck & Co (+4.81%) and Johnson & Johnson (+0.65%) climbed as the potentially split Congress was likely to shield the industry from sweeping reform. Communication Services (up +4.25%), Information Technology (+3.83%), and Consumer Discretionary (+3.14%) were the other notable sector performers. Materials (down -1.65%), Utilities (-1.59%) and Financials (-1.27%) were the key laggards. Costco Wholesale Corp edged +0.33% higher in after-hours trading after reporting that its net sales for October rose +15.9% to $13.82B from US$11.92B in October 2019. Same-store sales in the U.S. rose +13.6%, and total same-store sales, which includes overseas locations, rose +14.4% The technology-centric Nasdaq jumped +3.85%, with big gains for Facebook Inc up +8.32%, Google parent Alphabet Inc +6.09%, Amazon.com Inc +6.32% and Apple Inc +4.08%. The S&P and Nasdaq posted their best post-election gains on record.