Morgans AM

US equity markets resumed trading following the Labor Day long weekend, with value stocks under particular pressure as investors digested some disappointing manufacturing orders data - Dow fell -196-points or -0.6%, The broader S&P500 -0.42%, with Materials (down -1.81%), Industrials (-1.69%) and Utilities (-1.54%) all declining over >1.5% to lead eight of the eleven primary sectors lower. Energy (up +0.49%) and Information Technology (+0.39%) sat atop the primary sector leaderboard. The Nasdaq dipped -0.08%. The small capitalisation Russell 2000 lost -2.10% as rising Treasury yields added pressure.

US equity markets and bonds rallied following data that showed signs of a cooling labour market that could further ease pressure on the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates - Dow up +293-points or +0.85%. The broader S&P500 rallied +1.45% to log its best day since June, with Communication Services (up +2.46%) and Consumer Discretionary (2.35%) rallying over >2% to lead all eleven primary sectors higher. Tesla Inc jumped +7.69% to a near three week high of US$257.18, logging its largest one-day percentage increase since 21 March. Analysts at Oppenheimer reported that the electric vehicle maker launched a US$300M AI Computing cluster, saying the supercomputer “will employ 10,000 Nvidia H100 GPUs and is more powerful than the world’s third highest-performing supercomputer.”

US equity markets advanced to kick off the final trading week of August, picking up from where they left off last Friday (25 August) following Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s speech at the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium. A number of analysts felt that the central bank chief had set a high bar for further interest rate hikes, whilst eyeing key inflation and employment data at the back end of the week - Dow gained +213-points or +0.62%. 3M Co gained +5.22% after The Wall Street Journal reported that the multinational conglomerate was nearing an agreement on an ~US$5.5B plan to settle more than 300,000 lawsuits over defective military earplugs.

US equity markets logged their biggest drop in three weeks, with losses accelerating into the close as rising Treasury yields and a stronger U.S. dollar weighed on the benchmark indices - Dow dropped -374-points or -1.08%, Boeing Co fell -4.93% after the company warned of potential delivery delays of its 737 MAX jets.

US equity markets advanced as investors eyed the release of chipmaker Nvidia Corp’s latest quarterly result after the close and the beginning of the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium tonight AEST - Dow gained +184-points or +0.54%, Nike Inc (down -2.67%) fell for a tenth consecutive session, its longest slide on record. The broader S&P500 rose +1.10%, snapping a streak of 36 consecutive sessions without a gain of 1% or more in the process - longest such streak since the 42 trading day streak from 26 July, 2021 to 22 September, 2021, according to Dow Jones Market Data. It also marked the index’s best one day gain since 30 June. Information Technology (up +1.92%), Communication Services (+1.90%) and Real Estate (+1.46%) all gained over >1% to lead all primary sectors higher with the exception of Energy (down -0.30%).The Nasdaq rallied +1.59%, marking the technology-centric index’s largest one-day point and percentage gain since 28 July. The small capitalisation Russell 2000 rose +1.04%.

The Dow and S&P500 logged modest losses as a fresh ratings agency downgrade weighed on the financial sector - Dow fell -175-points or -0.51%. Nike Inc fell -1.36% to log its ninth consecutive session decline, with the latest decline coming following a disappointing quarterly update from Dick’s Sporting Goods.

US equity markets advanced, led by technology stocks despite longer dated Treasury yields climbing to levels not seen in over a decade - Dow eased -37-points or -0.11%, paring an earlier slide of as much as -252-points. Johnson & Johnson (down -2.98%) and Nike Inc (-1.86%) were the worst performing Dow components overnight. The broader S&P500 rose +0.69%, with Information Technology (up +2.26%) leading five of the eleven primary sectors higher. The more defensive Real Estate (down -0.88%) and Consumer Staples (-0.64%) sat at the foot of the primary sector leaderboard overnight. Tesla Inc jumped +7.33% buoyed by an upbeat research note from analysts at Baird that highlighted some positive developments ahead of the electric vehicle maker in the second half of the year, including the launch of the Cybertruck and “a wider-scale adoption of [Full Self Driving, Tesla’s suite of advanced driver assistance systems to navigate city streets], continued growth in the energy business, expanding into new markets, and a possible AI [Artificial Intelligence] Day.” Palo Alto Networks Inc soared +14.84% after the cybersecurity firm’s fiscal fourth quarter result released after the close of last Friday’s (18 August) session topped consensus analysts forecasts, as did forecasts for profit and billings.

US equity markets little changed on Friday (18 August) as gains for more defensive sectors and Energy offset fresh weakness among megacap technology names - Dow edged +26-points or +0.07% higher, snapping a three-session losing streak. The broader S&P500 dipped -0.01%, with Communication Services (down -0.98%) leading five of the eleven primary sectors lower. Energy (up +0.94%) sat atop the primary sector leaderboard, with Devon Energy up +1.90%, Marathon Oil +1.49% and Occidental Petroleum +1.44%. The Nasdaq slipped -0.20%, with Alphabet Inc (-1.80%), Amazon.com Inc (-0.57%), Meta Platforms Inc (down -0.65%) and Microsoft Corp (-0.13%) all weaker. The small capitalisation Russell 2000 rose +0.51%.