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US equity markets retreated as investors digested news that President Trump and the First Lady had contracted coronavirus, with technology stocks weighing heaviest on the key indices - Dow down -134-points or -0.48% .

•US markets edged slightly higher Thursday as investors tried to gauge the prospects of Washington passing an additional stimulus package to bolster the economy before next month's election. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose +35 points, or +0.1%, to 27,816 after jumping 250 points earlier in the day. The S&P 500 gained +0.5%. The Nasdaq Composite outperformed, gaining +1.4%. Tech shares, which could do well even without another stimulus, provided the broader market with some support as well as Amazon, Microsoft, Alphabet and Facebook all jumped at least 1%. Netflix popped 5.5%.

U.S. markets climbed in volatile trading on Wednesday, shrugging off a chaotic clash at the Trump-Biden debate, instead choosing to focus on rising hopes for further coronavirus stimulus and better-than-expected economic data. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 329.04 points, or 1.2%, to 27,781.70, after jumping 573 points at its session high. The S&P 500 rose 0.8%, or 27.53 points, to 3,363.00, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.7%, or 82.26 points, to 11,167.51. Still, major averages suffered their first monthly declines since March partly due to a tech-led correction earlier in September. Markets were also buoyed by positive data regarding a potential coronavirus treatment from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals. Regeneron said after the close Tuesday its REGN-COV2 drug reduced viral levels and improved symptoms in non-hospitalized coronavirus patients. Meanwhile, Moderna’s experimental Covid-19 vaccine appears safe and shows signs of working in older adults, according to study results published in the New England Journal of Medicine. However, Financial Times reported Wednesday Moderna’s vaccine won’t be ready before the November election.

US equity markets fell for the first time in four days on Tuesday amid concerns over a possible resurgence in coronavirus cases.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 131.40 points lower, or 0.5%, at 27,452.66. The S&P 500 also dipped 0.5% to end the day at 3,335.47 while the Nasdaq Composite slid 0.3% to 11,085.25. The major averages snapped a three-day winning streak.

Shares of airline companies led the declines. JetBlue and American Airlines slid 4.4% and 4% respectively. United dipped nearly 4% and Southwest closed lower by 1.7%.

US equity markets rose sharply on Monday as Wall Street built on strong gains from the previous session amid hope for a new deal on U.S. fiscal stimulus and several corporate deals being struck. The Dow closed 410.10 points higher, or 1.5%, at 27,584.06, to start the week, led by banks and tech. The broader S&P 500 gained 1.6% to close 3,351.60 and the Nasdaq climbed 1.9% to 11,117.53. Both the Dow and S&P 500 had their best session since Sept. 9. Sentiment on Wall Street got a boost after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Sunday a last-minute coronavirus aid deal remains on the table as House Democrats try to forge ahead on a smaller aid package costing about $2.4 trillion.

US equity markets advanced after another choppy session although both the Dow and S&P500 logged their fourth straight weekly decline (matching their longest such losing streak since August 2019) – the Dow rose +359 points or +1.30%. Boeing Co rallied +6.8% after the US Federal Aviation Administration said its chief will conduct an evaluation flight of the grounded 737 MAX jet, while European regulators indicated a potential resumption of flights by year end. The broader S&P500 gained +1.60%, with the Information Technology sector (up +2.4%) logging its best session since 9 September and leading ten of the eleven primary sectors higher. Energy (down -0.07%) was the only primary sector to settle in the red. Cruise operators traded strongly (Carnival Corp up +9.7%, Norwegian Cruise Line +13.7% and Royal Caribbean +7.7%), buoyed by an upgrade from a Barclays analyst. NASDAQ +2.30%. Facebook Inc up +2.1%, Amazon.com Inc +2.5%, Apple Inc +3.8%, and Netflix Inc +2.1%. For the week, the Dow lost –1.8% and the S&P500 -0.6% as cyclical stocks underperformed. However, the Nasdaq gained +1.1% for the week, ending a three-week stretch of declines.

•US equity markets settled with modest gains after a turbulent session - Dow settled +52-points or +0.20% higher after trading in a 560-point intra-day range. The Dow was down -226-points at its session lows and climbed as much as +332-points. The broader S&P500 edged +0.30% higher to 3,246.59, having fallen into correction territory (defined as a fall of 10% or more from its most recent peak) after falling below

US equity markets logged sharp falls, with losses accelerating in the final hour of trading as technology stocks took a fresh leg lower - Dow dropped -525-points or -1.92%, unwinding an earlier +176-point rally. Johnson & Johnson (up +0.16%) announced the start of a 60,000-person clinical trial of its single-dose COVID-19 vaccine on three continents, making the drugmaker the fourth experimental vaccine candidate to enter final-stage testing in the U.S. Nike Inc gained +8.76% after posting fiscal first quarter numbers that were well above Wall Street’s expectations after the closing bell of the previous session. The broader S&P500 fell -2.37%, with Energy (down -4.55%) and Information Technology (-3.21%) leading all eleven primary sectors lower. NASDAQ tumbled -3.02%. Apple Inc fell -4.19%, with UBS downgrading the stock to ‘neutral’ from ‘buy’ and noting that the valuation “reflects a growth trajectory that we believe is unsustainable. Tesla Inc dropped -10.34% after the electric-auto maker unveiled innovations and increased efficiencies that seemingly underwhelmed investors at its “Battery Day” event. The stock was also under pressure after Tesla sued the U.S. government to overturn tariffs on China.

•US equity markets advanced, with both the S&P500 and Nasdaq arresting a four session slide - Dow up +140-points or +0.52% (to 27,288.18), recovering from an intra-session low of 26,989.93 snapping a three session losing streak. The broader S&P500 gained +1.05% . NASDAQ +1.71%. Amazon.com Inc rose +5.7%, buoyed by an upgraded to ‘outperform’ from ‘market perform’ by analysts at Bernstein. Facebook Inc (up +2.66%) and Microsoft Corp (+2.41%) both gained more than >2%. Lululemon Athletica Inc rose +1.4% in after hours trading (after a +6.10% gain in the regular session) after the athletic apparel retailer after announcing the company will restart its stock repurchase program, which was halted due to COVID-19. Tesla Inc fell -5.6% but rebounded +3.90% in the extended session as the electric vehicle maker’s annual meeting of stockholders and Battery Day presentation got underway. Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Elon Musk sought to manage expectations ahead of the electric carmaker’s Battery Day presentation, cautioning about hurdles to reaching mass production and noting any new battery technology announced “will not reach serious high-volume production until 2022.”

US equity markets retreated although a late session rally left the key indices well off their worst level of the session - Dow fell -510-points or -1.84%, well off its session lows that saw the index down as much as -942-points or -3.4%. JPMorgan Chase & Co fell -3.09% after being named in a leaked a report citing confidential documents that a number of global banks moved allegedly illicit funds over the past two decades despite warnings from U.S. officials. The broader S&P500 shed -1.16% to 3,281.06, paring an earlier decline of as much as -2.7%. A close below 3,222.76 would have put the index into correction territory (i.e. a drop of over >10% from its most recent peak). The latest falls marked the first time since February that the S&P 500 posted four straight daily losses. Materials (down -3.41%), Industrials (-3.38%) and Energy (-3.27%) logged declines of over >3% and led ten of the eleven primary sectors lower. Information Technology (up +0.76%) was the only primary sector to close in positive territory. Airlines (Delta Air Lines Inc fell -9.2% and United Airlines Holdings Inc -8.6%) and other travel-related stocks (Carnival Corp -6.66%)) were under pressure amid fresh coronavirus concerns. NASDAQ dipped -0.13%, staging an impressive intra-day turnaround that saw the technology-centric index recover from a drop of over >2.5%. The Nasdaq-100 index, comprising the Nasdaq Composite’s 100 largest companies, added +0.4%. Microsoft Corp rose +1.07% after announcing the acquisition of ZeniMax Media and its game publisher Bethesda Softworks for US$7.5B in cash. Apple Inc rose +3.03% and Netflix Inc +3.70%. In broader stock moves, Tesla Inc rose +1.6% in regular trading only to fall -5.33% in the extended session ahead of their “Battery Day” tonight AEST. Luxury homebuilder Toll Brothers Inc rose +5.1% after the company issued an upbeat mid-quarter update. Nikola Corp dropped -19.3% after founder Trevor Milton resigned as executive chairman following allegations by a short seller the company had misled investors about its technology.