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US equity markets retreated as rising Treasury yields continued to weigh on the Information Technology sector (down -2.60%) and with investors eyeing tonight’s AEST inflation data - Dow down -413-points or -1.19%, marking the largest one-day point and percentage drop since 31 March. Goldman Sachs Group Inc (down -0.20%) has acquired Netherlands-based asset manager NN Investment Partners for €1.7B to expand its asset management footprint in Europe and increase its sustainable investment capabilities. NN Investment Partners, which has more than 900 employees, will be integrated into Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM) and brings Goldman's assets under supervision to approximately US$2.8 trillion. The broader S&P500 -1.69%, the indice’s largest one-day point and percentage decline since 7 March. The Energy sector (down -3.11%) led all eleven primary sectors lower, with Occidental Petroleum Corp down -6.28% and Conocophillips -4.92%. Airline stocks bucked the broader market’s negative trend, with Delta Air Lines Inc climbing +4.00%, American Airlines Group Inc +2.29%, Southwest Airlines Co +3.35% and United Airlines Holdings Inc +1.10%. Twitter Inc added +1.69% after Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Parag Agrawal revealed that Elon Musk abandoned his plan to join the company’s board. AT&T Inc rallied +7.74% on its first trading day following the spinoff of its 71% stake in Warner Bros. Holders of AT&T received roughly a 0.242 share of Warner Brothers Discovery, as the merged media company will be known, for each AT&T share in the spinoff. The Nasdaq shed -2.18% with losses deepening in the final hour of the session. Microsoft Corp fell -3.94%, while chipmakers Nvidia Corp and Advanced Micro Devices Inc fell -5.20% and -3.59% respectively. The small capitalisation Russell 2000 lost 0.71%.

US equity markets retreated on Friday (8 April) as investors braced for tighter monetary policy - Dow up +138-points or +0.40% . The broader S&P500 eased -0.27%, with Information Technology (down -1.49%) the key index drag. Energy (up +2.76%) sat atop the primary sector leaderboard on Friday (8 April). The Nasdaq shed -1.34%. The small capitalisation Russell 2000 fell -0.76%. US equity and bond markets are closed on Friday (15 April) for the Good Friday holiday.

US equity markets staged a comeback overnight as investors digested minutes from the March Federal Open Market Committee meeting, showing the central bank weighing a plan to reduce its bond holdings by $95 billion per month as it tries to stamp out surging inflation. The Dow rose +87.06 points or +0.30%. The broader S&P500 gained +0.4%, with Health Care (+1.85%), Energy (+1.36%), and Consumer Staples (+1.18%) leading the way. St. Louis Fed President James Bullard on Thursday dismissed talk of recession, saying that the U.S. expansion “is not ‘old’ and can continue for a long time.” Bullard has called for the Fed to raise interest rates swiftly to counter inflation, saying he wants to get the Fed’s benchmark interest rate above 3% this year. Shares in HP Inc. jumped +14.8% after Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. disclosed that it had taken an 11.4% (US$4.2bn) stake in the computer and printer maker. This follows a near US$20bn buying spree by Berkshire Hathaway recently. The Nasdaq also rose +0.1% helped by Tesla Inc (+1.2%) and Microsoft (+0.6%), while Twitter fell -5.4% The small capitalisation Russell 2000 was lower -0.35%.

Bond yields hit their highest level in three years and technology stocks lost ground as investors digested more details about the Federal Reserve's plan to raise interest rates. The Dow fell about -0.30%, or -100 points, Nasdaq dropped -2.0% or 315 points to 13,888. While the S&P 500 lost 0.90% or -43 points to 4,481, with the more defensive sectors Utilities (up +2.0%), Real Estate (up +1.55%) and Health Care (up +1.55%) leading five of the eleven primary sectors. Technology shares were sold off, falling for a second day as investors rotated out of the sector in anticipation for higher rates. Apple (-1.85%), Microsoft (-3.66%), Amazon (-3.23%) and Tesla (-4.17%) contributed to the sectors decline. Chipmakers Nvidia and Marvell Technology also continued their decent, falling -6.0% and -2.60% respectively. Expectations of higher short-term rates have hit the mortgage market, sending the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage to 4.9% last week, the highest rate since 2018, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Shares of home builders, fell across the board. PulteGroup fell -US$1.15, or -2.70%, Lennar was down -US$3.42, or -4.30%, and D.R. Horton slid -US$2.92, or -3.90%

US equity markets saw a mixed start, but soon turned lower across the board following remarks by the Fed Governor Lael Brainard, saying the Fed will “continue tightening monetary policy methodically through a series of interest rate increases and by starting to reduce the balance sheet at a rapid pace as soon as our May meeting,” This saw - Dow down -280 points or +0.80%. The broader S&P500 -1.26%, with Consumer Discretionary (-2.35%), and Information Technology (-2.19) leading the way down. Spirit Airlines (+22.37%) surged overnight after a report that JetBlue Airways has made a bid for budget carrier. This comes less than two months after Spirit and Frontier agreed to merge into a discount airline behemoth. The Nasdaq lead the losses falling -2.26%. Twitter (+2.00%) remained in the spotlight for a second day after the company named Elon Musk to its board of directors. Expectations of quicker interest rate hikes also dulled high-growth stocks Tesla (-4.73%), Paypal (-3.45%), and Amazon (2.6%). The small capitalisation Russell 2000 -2.36%.

US equity markets were strong in overnights trade as positive employment data and a rebound in technology stocks outweighed geo-political developments - The Dow up +103-points or +0.20%. The broader S&P500 added +0.81%. While the Nasdaq gained +1.9% to lead the indexes. A jump in Consumer Discretionary (+2.3%), Communication Services (+2.3%), Information Technology (+1.91%) & Energy (+0.7%) led 8 of the 11 S&P500 sectors higher. Twitter shares surged more than 27% following news that Elon Musk purchased a +9.2% passive stake in the company. Tesla’s stock also rose +5.6% on the back of its latest quarterly electric vehicle delivery figures, which came in above the year-earlier period. Other technology companies including Apple, Amazon, Alphabet and Nvidia were also up more than +2% after what was a weak March quarter for those companies. US-listed Chinese technology stocks, including Alibaba and JD.com, also rallied on optimism that they could avoid being delisted from US markets. Meanwhile, shares of Starbucks dipped +3.7% after the coffee chain suspended its share buyback program. The small capitalisation Russell 2000 rose +0.21%.

US equity markets opened the new month and quarter with modest gains on Friday (1 April), with Wall Street looking to bounce back from its first negative quarter in two years - Dow up +140-points or +0.40%, recovering from an earlier session decline of ~100-points. The broader S&P500 added +0.34%, with the more defensive Real Estate (up +2.02%), Utilities (+1.45%) and Consumer Staples (+1.25%) sectors leading eight of the eleven primary sectors higher. Industrials (down -0.70%), Financials (-0.21%) and Information Technology (-0.17%) were the three primary sectors to close in the red. The Nasdaq +0.29%. Apple Inc (down -0.17%) was removed from JP Morgan’s Analyst Focus List, with the investment bank’s analysts citing concerns around a moderation in consumer spending. Apple climbed for 11-days from 14 March 14 until last Wednesday (30 March) - its longest winning streak since 2003. Chipmaker Qualcomm Inc (down -3.81%) was also removed from the focus list. Chip stocks more broadly were under fresh pressure, with Intel Corp down -2.93% and Advanced Micro Devices Inc -1.05%. Tesla Inc (up +0.65%) on Saturday (2 April) reported first quarter deliveries of ~310K vehicles, in-line with analysts’ expectations despite soaring gas prices, fresh COVID restrictions and supply chain challenges. It marked a quarterly record for the electric vehicle maker, up from ~309K vehicles delivered in the fourth quarter of 2021 and ~185K vehicles delivered in the first quarter of 2021. The small capitalisation Russell 2000 rose +1.01%. U.S.-listed Chinese stocks rallied on Friday (1 April) following a report that authorities in Beijing were preparing to meet a key demand of U.S. regulators, a move that would remove a cloud of uncertainty from companies like Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (up +1.29%), DiDI Global Inc (+12.80%), JD.com Inc (+2.11%) and NIO (+4.18%). The Chinese Securities Regulatory Commission and other regulators are drafting a new framework that would allow most Chinese companies to keep their U.S. listings, Bloomberg reported, citing anonymous sources. Beijing is set to give U.S. regulators the auditing reports of most of the 200-plus Chinese companies listed in New York, the report said, but was preparing to accept that some state-owned firms will be delisted.

US equity markets retreated, with the losses deepening in the final hour of the session - Dow lost -550-points or -1.56% . JPMorgan Chase & Co fell -3% and Goldman Sachs Group Inc -1.6% The broader S&P500 shed -1.57%. Financials (down -2.32%) and Consumer Services (-2.01%) both fell over >2% to lead all eleven primary sectors lower. The Nasdaq fell -1.54%. Semiconductor and tech hardware stocks came under pressure amid analyst concerns over the PC market going forward. Advanced Micro Devices Inc fell -8.29% after analysts at Barclays downgraded the stock to equal weight from overweight and lowered its price target from US$148 to US$115. Meanwhile, HP Inc and Dell Technologies Inc dropped -6.54% and -7.6%, respectively, after being downgraded to equal weight from overweight at Morgan Stanley. The small capitalisation Russell 2000 -1.00%.

US equity markets modestly weaker after a choppy session, with Russian forces shelling areas around Kyiv and another Ukrainian city overnight, just hours after it pledged to “fundamentally” cut back operations in the areas - Dow eased -65-points or -0.19% . The broader S&P500 lost -0.63%. Consumer Discretionary (down -1.51%) and Information Technology (-1.36%) both declined over >1% to lead seven of the eleven primary sectors lower. Energy returned to the top of the primary sector leaderboard with a +1.17% gain. The Nasdaq -1.21%. Apple Inc (down -0.66%) snapped an 11-session winning streak overnight, falling just short of matching the 12-session record winning streak from 2003. The decline in Apple’s share price came despite a report from Bloomberg News indicating that the company had growing ambitions in financial services and was looking to build payment-processing technologies that would support more in-house fintech efforts. The small capitalisation Russell 2000 shed -1.97%.

US equity markets extended their recent rally amid signs of some thawing of tensions in the Russia-Ukraine conflict - Dow up +338-points or +0.97% . UnitedHealth Group Inc (down -0.48%) confirmed that its Optum Health unit would buy post-acute healthcare services company LHC Group LHCG in a deal that values LHC Group (up +5.93%) at more than >US$5.5B (US$170 per share). The broader S&P500 rose +1.23% to 4,631.60, exiting official correction territory after moving above 4,587.77 as the index rose for a fourth straight day. Based on data going back to 1928, the S&P 500 has seen a median gain of 11.5% a year after exiting correction, and average gain of nearly 14% - rising nearly 77% of the time. Median and average returns for shorter term time frames were also positive, according to Dow Jones Market Data. Real Estate (up +2.85%) and Information Technology (+2.06%) climbed over >2% to lead then of the eleven primary sectors higher. Energy (down -0.44%) was the only primary sector to close in the red. FedEx Corp rose % after the company announced that founder Fred Smith would step down as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) on 1 June and be replaced internally. Tesla Inc added +0.71% after Morgan Stanley reiterated its overweight rating on the electric vehicle maker. Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas wrote in a client note that Tesla may spend a combined $200 billion to $250 billion on capital expenditures and research and development through 2030, or roughly the entire market value of Toyota Motor , the No. 2 automaker in market value behind Tesla. The call came after CEO Elon Musk tweeted that he was “Working on master plan part 3.” Moderna Inc rose +4.37% after U.S. regulators approved an additional COVID vaccine booster shot for people age 50 and over. The technology-centric Nasdaq gained +1.84%. The small capitalisation Russell 2000 climbed +2.65%.