US equity markets returned from the holiday long weekend on the backfoot, with technology stocks under renewed pressure amid a fresh climb in bond yields - Dow dropped -543-points or -1.51% . The broader S&P500 shed -1.84%, with Information Technology (down -2.49%) and Financials (-2.30%) both down over >2% and leading nine of the eleven primary sectors lower. Energy (up +0.40%) was the only primary sector to advance, tracking the latest gains on crude markets. Ford Motor Co edged higher in extended trading (after a -3.22% decline in the regular session) after it said it has realized a US$8.2B gain in the fourth quarter related to its investments in Rivian Automotive Inc (down -8.49%) following the electric-vehicle maker’s November initial public offering. The Nasdaq tumbled -2.60% to 14,506.90, hitting its lowest level in three months. The technology-centric index sits more than >10% from its most recent high and closed below its 200-day moving average for the first time since April 2020. Meta Platforms Inc fell -4.14% and Amazon.com Inc -1.99%. The small capitalisation Russell 2000 dropped -3.06%. In merger and acquisition (M&A) news, Microsoft Corp fell -2.4% after announcing the software giant will buy video game company Activision Blizzard (up +25.88%) in an all-cash transaction (US$95 per share) valued at US$68.7B.