Morgans AM

US equity markets logged back-to-back losses ahead of the Federal Reserve’s latest interest rate decision and monetary policy pronouncements tomorrow morning AEST (3 November) - Dow eased -80-points or -0.24%, The broader S&P500 -0.41%, with Communication Services (down -1.81%) and Consumer Discretionary (-1.35%) both down over >1% to lead six of the eleven primary sectors lower. Energy sat atop the primary sector leaderboard with a +0.99% gain. The Nasdaq -0.89%. The small capitalisation Russell 2000 added +0.25%.

US equity markets retreated on the final trading day of the month, however the Dow Jones Industrial Average still recorded its largest monthly percentage gain since January 1976 - Dow eased -129-points or -0.39%, The broader S&P500 -0.75%, with Communication Services (down -1.68%) and Information Technology (-1.34%) both losing over >1% to lead ten of the eleven primary sectors higher. Energy (up +0.60%) was the only primary sector to advance overnight. The Nasdaq fell -1.02%, with Big Tech under fresh pressure. Meta Platforms Inc fell -6.09% to hit a fresh 52-week low, Alphabet Inc -1.85% and Microsoft Corp -1.59%. The small capitalisation Russell 2000 lost -0.49%.

US equity markets rallied on Friday (28 October), extending their weekly gain despite a tough week on the earnings front for major technology names, with investors also digesting the latest inflation figures and eyeing the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy meeting later in the week - Dow gained +829-points or +2.59%, The broader S&P500 rallied +2.46%, with Information Technology (up +4.52%), Communication Services (+2.98%) and Utilities (+2.85%) leading ten of the eleven primary sectors higher. Consumer Discretionary (down -0.30%) was the only primary sector not to advance on Friday (28 October). The technology-centric Nasdaq rebounded +2.85%. Apple Inc (up +7.56%) logged its biggest one-day gain in more than two years after posting better-than-expected. However, Amazon.com Inc tumbled -6.80% after warning after the closing bell last Thursday (27 October) that consumer spending was in “uncharted waters”. The company said it expected revenues to come in between US$140B-US$148B in the fourth quarter - as much as US$15B less than the figure forecast by analysts. The small capitalisation Russell 2000 +2.25%.

US equity markets ended mostly lower on Thursday as tech suffered a further selloff. The Dow rose +194-points or +0.61%, logging its fifth consecutive positive session. The broader S&P500 -0.61%, with Communication Services (down -4.12%) and Information Technology (-1.25%) leading the downside for a second consecutive session. The Nasdaq shed 1.63%. The small capitalisation Russell 2000 lost -0.43%.

The Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500 snapped three session winning streaks as investors assessed disappointing earnings from major technology names - Dow eked out a +2-points or +0.01% gain, paring an earlier rally of as much as +300-points. The broader S&P500 eased -0.74%, with Communication Services (down -4.75%) and Information Technology (-2.23%) leading five of the eleven primary sectors lower. Energy (up +1.36%) and Health Care (+1.12%) both rose over >2% to be the leading primary sectors overnight. Tesla Inc rose +1.00% despite a Reuters report suggesting that the electric vehicle manufacturer is facing a criminal investigation conducted by the Department of Justice into claims the company made around the self-driving capabilities of its vehicles. While federal and California safety regulators have looked into Tesla's Autopilot comments, Reuters noted that the "potentially represents a more serious level of scrutiny because of the possibility of criminal charges against the company or individual executives." However, the story also notes that any case could be complicated by the fact that Tesla has also offered some warnings about Autopilot system. The Nasdaq dropped -2.04%. Google-parent Alphabet Inc dropped -.5% after reporting lower-than-expected earnings per share (EPS) and revenue for the third quarter after the close of the previous session. Microsoft Corp shed -% after the software maker disclosed lower-than-expected cloud revenue for the fiscal first quarter and softer-than-expected guidance after the closing bell of Tuesday’s (25 October) session. The small capitalisation Russell 2000 added +0.46%.

US equity markets extended their rally into a third session as Treasury yields retreated and as investors eyed another very busy US corporate earnings calendar - Dow climbed +337-points or +1.07%. The broader S&P500 +1.63%, with Real Estate (up +3.94%) and Materials (+2.53%) leading ten of the eleven primary sectors higher. Energy (down -0.04%) was the only primary not to settle in positive territory. The Nasdaq rallied +2.25%. The small capitalisation Russell 2000 jumped +2.73%.

US equity markets rallied, consolidating last Friday’s (21 October) strong gains as investors eye a busy two weeks ahead on the US corporate earnings calendar - Dow gained +407-points or +1.34%, The broader S&P500 rose +1.19%, with Health Care (up +1.91%) and Consumer Staples (+1.79%) advancing over >1.5% to lead nine of the eleven primary sectors higher. Materials (down -0.62%) and Real Estate (-0.09%) were the only primary sectors to settle in the red. The Nasdaq climbed +0.84%. The small capitalisation Russell 2000 added +0.35%.

US equity markets closed sharply higher on Friday (21 October) as investors weighed a story from the Wall Street Journal and comments from Federal Reserve officials suggesting that the central bank might shift to smaller interest-rate rises after its 1-2 November monetary policy meeting - Dow rallied -749-points or +2.47%, with Goldman Sachs Group Inc (up +4.6%) and JPMorgan Chase & Co (+5.3%) notable performers. The broader S&P500 +2.37%, with Materials (up +3.46%) leading all eleven primary sectors higher, of which six logged gains of over >2.5%. Exxon Mobil Corp (up +1.30% at US$107.66) touched fresh all-time highs (US$108.04). The Nasdaq +2.31%. Twitter Inc fell -4.86% following a report that the U.S. could subject Elon Musk’s pending acquisition of the micro-blogging site to a national security review. Snap Inc tumbled -28.1% after the developer of camera and messaging app Snapchat revealed after the closing bell of last Thursday’s session (20 October) that revenue growth had slowed and losses had ballooned in the third quarter. The small capitalisation Russell 2000 +2.22%.

US equity markets retreated after another choppy trading session as Treasury yields climbed to their highest levels in more than 14 years - Dow fell -90.22-points or -0.30%, unwinding an earlier rally of almost +400-points. International Business Machines (IBM) Corp rose +4.73% after reporting a stronger-than-expected third quarter result after the close of the previous session. Walmart Inc U.S. Chief Executive Officer (CEO) John Furner said in an interview on NBC’s “Today” show that the retail giant “certainly are watching the market very closely, but what we see from customers is that spending is still strong. There’s a lot of demand in the United States and we think that’s going to continue.” Mr Furner declined to predict whether we’d see a recession but said that Walmart was working to “take unnecessary costs out of any part of our business” so that the company “can reflect better retail values for customers.” Walmart is slated to release their quarterly result on 15 November. The broader S&P500 lost -0.80%, with Utilities (down -2.51%) leading eight of the eleven primary sectors lower. Communication Services (up +0.36%), Energy (+0.18%) and Information Technology (+0.07%) all settled with modest gains. Tesla Inc dropped -6.65% after the electric vehicle maker recorded better-than-expected adjusted EPS (US$1.05 versus consensus US$1.00), but revenue (US$21.45B) fell short of forecasts (US$21.98B) despite delivering a record number of cars in the third quarter. The Washington Post reported that CEO Elon Musk intends to slash 75% of Twitter Inc's (up +1.18%) 7,500 workers in the coming months, chopping the company's head count to just over 2,000. Elsewhere, The Oregonian reported that Intel Corp (up +0.31%) is planning on announcing “targeted” layoffs in November. The Nasdaq fell -0.61%. The small capitalisation Russell 2000 lost -1.24%.

US equity markets settled with modest losses after a choppy session, struggling to extend the recent rebound as Treasury yields resumed their march higher - Dow fell -100-points or -0.33%, The broader S&P500 lost -0.67%, with Real Estate (down -2.56%) leading ten of the eleven primary sectors lower. Energy (up +2.94%) was the only primary sector to advance. The Nasdaq fell -0.83%. Netflix Inc jumped +13.09% after the streaming giant posted a stronger-than-expected result at the top and bottom lines after the close of the previous session. The small capitalisation Russell 2000 lost -1.72%.