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US equity markets arrested a two session slide as investors digested the latest US-China headlines and the Federal Reserve meeting minutes - Dow up +182-points or +0.70% The broader S&P500 +0.91%, with the Information Technology (up +1.45%), Energy (+1.07%), Materials (+1.02%) and Financials (+1.00%) all posting gains of 1%+ and with all eleven primary sectors advancing. Bed Bath & Beyond Inc soared +20.83% in extended trading after announcing former Target Corp executive Mark Tritton as their new Chief Executive Officer (CEO). The NASDAQ +1.00%, with Apple Inc gaining +1.17% after Cannacord Genuity lifted their price target on the company to US$260 per share from US$240. The Federal Reserve will also release the minutes of their September monetary policy meeting

US equity markets retreated as investor optimism around a US-China trade deal faded amid a series of headlines - Dow fell -314-points or -1.19% The broader S&P500 -1.56%, with Financials (down -2.02%) leading all eleven primary sectors into the red. Boeing Co fell -0.65% after the aircraft maker reported that its deliveries of airliners to customers in September plunged 70% from the level of a year earlier. Boeing delivered 26 airliners in September, down from 87 a year earlier and trailing the 71 reported by its European rival Airbus. Over the first nine months of the year, Boeing delivered 302 airplanes, compared with 571 by Airbus. The grounded 737 Max accounted for virtually the entire drop in Boeing shipments. NASDAQ -1.67%. Oracle Corp fell 1.4% after the company announced its planning to hire 2,000 new workers as part of a plan to expand cloud computing services to more companies in the competition with Amazon Web Services and Microsoft. U.S.-traded shares of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (down -3.8%), JD.com Com (-3.88%) and Baidu Inc (-1.91%) fell following reports that the White House is considering limits on Chinese stock holdings in government pension funds

US markets settled lower after media reports suggested Chinese officials would not strike a deal on intellectual property protections, a provision American industry has long hoped for, when negotiators meet later this week- Dow down -96-points or -0.36% The broader S&P500 lost -0.45%, with Energy (down -0.92%) leading ten of the eleven primary sectors into the red (with Communication Services eking out a +0.04% gain to be the only sector to advance). However, ConocoPhillips rose +2.06% and was among the best performers in the S&P 500 after the oil and gas major raised its quarterly dividend by 37.7% to US$0.42c per share. The NASDAQ lost -0.33%.

US equity markets stormed back to post solid gains following the release of the September jobs report that quelled recession fears without downgrading the odds of further monetary policy easing from the Federal Reserve - Dow up +373-points or +1.42% , recovering from an earlier -335-point/-1.3% slide. The broader S&P500 rallied +1.42%, with Financials (up +1.93%) and Information Technology (+1.71%) leading all eleven primary sectors into positive territory. The S&P 500 also moved back above both its 100-day (2,927.04) and 5-day (2,942.08) moving averages. The NASDAQ +1.4%. Apple Inc rose +2.8%, buoyed by a report in the Nikkei Asian Review that the company has asked suppliers to increase production of its iPhone 11 models by up to 8M units, or ~10%. Sources cited by the Nikkei Asian Review said that the recent surge in iPhone orders is concentrated in the cheapest iPhone 11 model and the iPhone 11 Pro model, while Apple has slightly revised down orders for its top range model, the iPhone 11 Pro Max, which has a starting price of US$1,099. For the week, both the Dow (down --0.92%) and S&P500 (-0.33%) logged their third consecutive weekly decline, while the Nasdaq posted its first weekly rise (+0.54%) in the past three.

US equity markets arrested a steep, two day sell-off that opened the fourth quarter, with the benchmark indices recovering from losses earlier in the session that were prompted by weak services sector data - Dow up +123-points or +0.47%, rebounding from a slide of as much as 335-point or ~1.3% earlier in the session. The broader S&P500 gained+0.80%, recovering from an earlier -1.1% decline. NASDAQ +1.20%.

US equity markets extended their poor start to the fourth quarter amid mounting concerns around economic growth - Dow tumbled -494-points or -1.85%, breaking below its 50-day and 100-day moving averages. The slide of -3.14% over the past two sessions represents the worst start to a quarter since the last three months of 2008, when the Dow slumped 19.4% in the fourth quarter. The broader S&P500 -1.79%, with the Energy sector (down -2.61%) leading the index below is 100-day moving average. All eleven primary sectors closed in the red for a second consecutive session (the first time that has happened since late December 2018), with ten of them logging falls of at least 1.2%. Both Ford Motor Co (down -3.26%) and General Motors Co (-3.96%) fell after reporting disappointing quarterly sales. The -3.02% drop over the past two sessions marks the S&P500's worst start to a quarter since the indice's -5.49% slide to start the fourth quarter of 2009. The NASDAQ -1.51%., with Amazon.com Inc, Apple Inc and Google parent Alphabet Inc all dropping at least 1.3%. Tesla Inc fell a further ~3.6% in after-hours trading (after falling -2% in the regular session) after the electric-car maker reported disappointing third-quarter deliveries of ~97K vehicles versus analysts' forecasts for ~99K. All three benchmark indices posted their steepest single day slide since 23 August. The Nasdaq (down 2.7% so far in October) and the small capitalisation Russell 2000 index (falling -1.9% overnight and down -3.1% over the past two sessions) also marked their worst starts to the quarter since 2009.

Weak September manufacturing data dragged the benchmark US equity indices into the red on the first trading day of the fourth quarter - Dow settled -344-points or -1.28% lower, unwinding an earlier gain of more than >100-points The broader S&P500 lost -1.23%, Manufacturers Honeywell International Inc and 3M Co both fell at least 2.8% on the back of the weak manufacturing data. NASDAQ shed -1.13%. However, Apple Inc rose +0.28% after the company's chief executive Tim Cook told German tabloid Bild that the newly launched iPhone 11 has enjoyed a "very strong start". Global year-over-year sales of chips fell for an eighth straight month, according to data released by the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA). August chip sales fell -15.9% to US$34.2B from the previous year, when semiconductor sales peaked at record levels. However, the SIA did point out that "While worldwide semiconductor sales remain well behind the totals reached in 2018, month-to-month sales increased in two consecutive months for the first time in nearly a year,"

US equity markets closed out the month and quarter on a positive note - Dow up +97-points or +0.36% The broader S&P500 rose +0.50% and enters the fourth quarter with its biggest year-to-date gain (up +18.74%) in more than two decades. The NASDAQ gained +0.75%, with Apple Inc (up +2.4%) buoyed by a J.P. Morgan lifting their target price on the company by ~9% to US$265 per share and retaining their 'overweight' rating after raising their iPhone sales forecasts. The gain saw Apple recoup its trillion US dollar market capitalisation. U.S.-listed shares of Chinese tech firms Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (up +0.75%) and Baidu Inc (+1.53%) rebounded following the US Treasury Department’s denial that it was considering banning Chinese firms from U.S. exchanges. In corporate news, the parent of office-space sharing company WeWork, We Co. said that it would withdraw its planned initial public offering (IPO) for now. The company had filed for an IPO on 14 August but was forced to delay its plan to go public after investors raised concerns about losses, liabilities and valuations, leading co-Founder and CEO Adam Naumann to resign last week. For the month, the Dow gained +1.95%, S&P500 +1.72% and Nasdaq +0.46%. For the quarter, both the Dow and S&P500 gained +1.19% to log their third straight quarter of gains. The Nasdaq slipped -0.09%.

US equity markets fell as investors weighed the latest US-China headlines - Dow fell -71-points or -0.26%, erasing an earlier gain of ~130-points. The broader S&P500 fell -0.53%, with Financials (up +0.24%) the only primary sector to advance as Wells Fargo and Company gained+3.7% after the US' fourth-largest bank announced that it has named Bank of New York Mellon Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Charles Scharf as its new CEO. Information Technology (down -1.26%) was the worst primary sector performer. The NASDAQ shed-1.13%. Micron Technology Inc tumbled -11.09% after the chipmaker reported its fiscal fourth quarter result after the close of last Thursday's (26 September) session and said that the US trade war with China is hurting the company’s business with Huawei, weighing on the company’s fourth-quarter results and threatening to harm its future financials. Equity markets initially rallied, buoyed by a CNBC report that top US and Chinese negotiators are set to meet 10-11 October in Washington, with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He to lead the delegation from Beijing. However, investor sentiment was subsequently rattled by a Bloomberg News report alleged that the Trump administration has been discussing ways to curb US portfolio inflows into China. The report weighed on China names, including Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (down -5.15%) and Baidu Inc (-3.67%). However, US Treasury spokeswoman Monica Crawley said that the Trump administration "is not contemplating blocking Chinese companies from listing shares on the US stock exchanges at this time" in an emailed statement on Saturday (28 September). On Sunday (29 September), China's ice Commerce Minister Wang Shouwen said that China’s top trade negotiator will lead an upcoming 13th round of trade talks between the US and China although he did not specify dates. For the week, the Dow lost -0.43%, S&P500 -1.01% and Nasdaq -2.19%.

US markets - The Dow closed down almost 80 points or 0.3%, the broader S&P500 was down 0.24%, while the NASDAQ was +0.58% lower. Stocks fell on Thursday as traders monitored the latest trade developments and assessed a whistleblower complaint against President Donald Trump that was released. The whistleblower said in the complaint that the president used his office to solicit interference from a foreign country ahead of the 2020 election. Stocks hit their session lows after Bloomberg News reported, citing a source, that the U.S. is unlikely to extend a temporary waiver that allows U.S. companies to sell supplies to Huawei, a Chinese telecommunications giant. The market turned slightly higher after China’s foreign Minister Wang Yi said the U.S. has shown good will by waiving tariffs and China is willing to buy more American products, Reuters reported.