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US equity markets rallied, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq hitting fresh record highs after several pieces of economic data pointed to a slowing U.S. economy, raising hopes for interest rate cuts later this year - Dow added +96-points or +0.25%. Intel Corp rose +2.50% after announcing after the close of the previous session that it would sell a 49% stake in Irish manufacturing venture Fab34 to Apollo Global Management for US$11B. The investment is part of Intel's "Smart Capital" strategy, its plan to revitalize and expand its supply chain without putting too much strain on its own balance sheet by bringing in outside investments. Intel will retain a 51% controlling stake in the Fab 34 facility.

US equity markets edged higher in choppy trading following some soft manufacturing data and with traders eying the non-farm payrolls report at the end of the week - Dow fell -115-points or -0.30%. Chevron Corp dropped -2.98%, tracking crude prices lower. Heavy industry stalwarts Dow Inc (down -2.71%) and Caterpillar Inc (-2.12%) retreated following some weak manufacturing data.

US equity markets edged higher after fresh job openings data suggested the labour market continued to cool in April - Dow gained +140-points or +0.36%. Cisco Systems Inc rose +1.65% after it launched a US$1B fund to invest in artificial intelligence (AI) startups. Intel Corp fell -0.86% slipped 0.9% after unveiling its next-generation Xeon 6 AI data centre chips at the Computex trade fair in Taipei alongside other leading chipmakers. The next-generation chips come in two types: a more powerful processor to handle the workload of larger AI infrastructure requirements, and an efficiency model, which the company has positioned as a replacement for earlier-generation chips.

US equity markets advanced to cap another strong month - Dow rallied +575-points or +1.51%. Salesforce Inc rebounded +7.54% after slumping almost 20% a day earlier after the cloud client relationship management software group provided weaker-than-expected fiscal second quarter and full year guidance.  Consumer brands that have been struggling with sticky inflation and under pressure consumers also traded strongly, with McDonald’s Corp up +2.71%, Home Depot Inc +1.73% and Coca-Cola Co +1.55%.

US equity markets retreated, led lower by declines in rate-sensitive sectors as concerns around the timing and the scale of the Federal Reserve's interest rate cuts pushed Treasury yields higher and pressured risk assets - Dow dropped -411-points or -1.06%. Unitedhealth Group Inc dropped -3.76% after Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Andrew Witty said at the Bernstein 40th Annual Strategic Decisions Conference in New York that he expected some “disturbance” in the company’s Medicaid profitability models from the resumption of eligibility reviews following the lifting of the COVID-19 emergency declaration.

US equity markets resumed trading on a mixed note following the Memorial Day long weekend, although Nvidia Corp continued to power ahead and push the Nasdaq to fresh record highs - Dow fell -217-points or -0.55%, paring an earlier decline of over >300-points. Healthcare names led the 30-stock index lower, with Merck & Co down -2.63%, Amgen Inc -1.85% and Johnson & Johnson -1.76%. Just seven stocks in the Dow finished in positive territory.  Chevron Corp rose +0.82% after its US$53B acquisition of Hess Corporation (+0.44%) was approved by the target’s shareholders.

In US corporate earnings, Cava Group and Hewlett Packard Enterprise post quarterly results tonight AEST. In US economic data, the S&P Core Logic Case-Shiller Home Price for March, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) House Price Index for March, the Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence survey for May, and the Dallas Fed Manufacturing Index for May are released tonight AEST.

US equity markets retreated, reversing earlier gains as the latest ‘flash’ purchasing managers indices (PMIs) fuelled fresh interest rate concerns and overshadowed a renewed rally for chipmaking giant Nvidia Corp - Dow dropped -606-points or -1.53%, marking the largest daily percentage decline since 22 March and with all of the 30-stock index’s components settling in the red. Boeing Co shed -7.55% after Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Brian West addressed an investor conference in New York and warned investors that the company’s second-quarter cash burn could match or be worse than the first quarter’s US$3.9B burn and that production struggles are likely to continue in the current quarter. Moreover, Boeing is unlikely to see positive cash flow this year. The comments came after Boeing undertook a US$10B corporate-debt issuance in late April. Intel Corp fell -426%, while Johnson & Johnson (-2.48%), McDonald’s Corp (-2.95%) and Walt Disney Co (-2.29%) all fell over >2%.