US equity markets advanced on Friday (9 February), with both the Dow and S&P500 booking fresh record closing highs - Dow rose +238-points or +0.48% to book a record closing high of 49,504.07, with Home Depot Inc (up +4.19%) the leading performer in the 30-stock index, while Boeing Co (+3.14%) and Sherwin-Williams Co (+3.59%) gained over >3%.

The broader S&P500 gained +0.65% to a fresh record closing high of 6,966.28 after touching a record intra-day peak (6,978.36).

Materials (up +1.80%) leading nine of the eleven primary sectors higher on Friday (9 January). Vistra Corp (up +10.47%) was the leading S&P500 performer, while Oklo Inc rose +7.90% after Facebook and Instagram parent Meta Platforms Inc (+1.08%) announced it had inked "landmark agreements" with the companies and privately held TerraPower to power its artificial intelligence (AI) projects.

US equity markets were stronger overnight – Dow rose 0.14% driven by tech names Amazon up 2.4%, Nvidia up 1.8%, Microsoft up 1.65%, and Cisco 1.52%.


The broader S&P500 advanced 0.79% on the back of a lower-than-expected CPI report. Memory and storage names Sandisk Corporation, Western Digital and Seagate Technology were three of the top performers, up 6.1%, 5.26% and 5.17% respectively. The rally due to Micron Technology’s strong result and their outlook for AI-driven memory demand.

US equity markets rallied late in the session as investors digested the latest monetary policy pronouncements from the Federal Reserve  - Dow rallied +497-points or +1.05%, with 26 of the 30 index components advancing. JPMorgan Chase & Co rebounded +3.19% after dropping -4.66% in the previous session after Marianne Lake, the investment bank’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Consumer & Community Banking, disclosed higher-than-expected expense projections of US$105B for next year (versus current consensus forecasts of US$101B) at the Goldman Sachs Group Inc (up +1.44%) U.S. Financial Services Conference and said that she "would characterize the environment as being a little bit more fragile." American Express Co (+3.2%), Caterpillar Inc (+3.53%) and Nike Inc (+3.88%) also all rose over >3%. 

US equity markets advanced after a delayed, tame inflation report reinforced expectations that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates at its final meeting of the year this week - Dow added +104-points or +0.22%, with Salesforce Inc (up +5.3%) the clear outperformer in the 30-stock index on Friday (5 December). Goldman Sachs Group Inc +2% Amgen Inc fell -3.02%


The Dow Jones Transportation Average (up +0.69%), an index that tracks the stocks of companies that move goods and people around the country, rose for a tenth consecutive day on Friday (6 December).

US equity markets retreated to open the final trading month of the calendar year, with technology and cryptocurrency-related stocks under particular pressure - Dow fell -427-points or -0.90%. Merck & Co Inc (-2.81%) was the worst performer in the 30-stock index, while Amgen Inc (-2.31%) and McDonald’s Corp (2.06%) both fell over >2%.

US equity markets advanced in an abbreviated trading session on Friday (28 November) to cap a strong, holiday-shortened trading week - Dow rose +289-points or +0.61% with Amazon.com Inc, International Business Machines (IBM) Corp and JPMorgan Chase & Co all rising +1.77%.


The broader S&P500 gained +0.54%. Energy (up +1.32%) led ten of the eleven primary sectors higher. Health Care (down -0.49%) was the only primary sector to settle in the red. Intel Corp jumped +10.19% after an analyst suggested that the company could become a foundry supplier for Apple Inc (+0.47%) processors, adding fuel to rumours earlier in the year about a possible deal with the iPhone maker. Broadcom Inc (+1.36%), General Motors (+0.98%), Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc (-0.26%) and Walmart Inc (+1.29%)  were among 12 S&P500 components to hit fresh record intra-day highs on Friday (28 November).


The Nasdaq rallied +0.65%, booking a fifth straight day of gains

US equity markets advanced after New York Federal Reserve President John Williams suggested the central bank could cut interest rates yet again this year  - Dow rallied +493-points or +1.08%. Home Depot Inc (up +3.29%) was the leading performer in the 30-stock index.  Nvidia Corp lost -0.97% after Bloomberg News reported, citing sources, that the Trump administration was mulling the sale of H200 AI chips to China. The report said President Trump held talks internally about possible shipments in recent days, though it added that a decision had not been made.

US equity markets advanced, with the Dow and S&P500 snapping four session losing streaks ahead of the release of Dow component Nvidia Corp’s (up +2.85% in the regular session) third quarter result after the closing bell and tonight’s AEST delayed September jobs report - Dow edged +47-points or +0.10% higher.

Boeing Co (down -2.07%) and Salesforce Inc (-2.41%) both fell over >2%.
The broader S&P500 added +0.38%. Information Technology (+0.93%) and Communication Services (+0.72%) returned to the top of the primary sector leaderboard.

Energy (down -1.30%) sat at the foot of the primary sector leaderboard.

US equity markets retreated as concerns about valuations for artificial intelligence (AI) stocks continued to weigh on sentiment and with investors eyeing Nvidia Corp’s (-2.81%) third quarter result after the closing bell of tonight’ AEST session   - Dow rose -499-points or -1.07%, having been down almost -700-points at its worst levels of the session. E-commerce and cloud giant Amazon.com Inc lost -4.43%, while International Business Machines (IBM) Corp (-2.43%), Honeywell International (-2.36%) and UnitedHealth Group Inc (-2.17%) were among seven Dow components that fell over >2%.


The broader S&P500 extended declines into a fourth consecutive session, falling -0.83% and paring an earlier drop of as much as -1.5%. Consumer Discretionary (down -2.50%) and Information Technology (-1.68%) led five of the eleven primary sectors lower. Energy (up +0.61%) and Health Care (+0.54%) sat atop the primary sector leaderboard. The index now sits over >3% from its October peak.  James Hardie Industries Plc +6.83% after the building materials supplier released its fiscal second quarter result after the close of the previous session and said the performance of the recently acquired AZEK business has exceeded its expectations and it has topped a target for cost savings from the deal in the current fiscal year. Eli Lilly and Co rose +0.82% and hit a record intra-day high (US$1,040.72) dating back to 1952 when the pharmaceutical company offered its first public shares of stock.

Benchmark US equity indices booked their worst single-session performance since 10 October, 2000 amid rising uncertainty about Federal Reserve interest rate cuts - Dow fell -798-points or -1.65% to 47,457.22 after settling above 48,000 for the first time a day earlier. Investment banks Goldman Sachs Group Inc (down -3.99%) and JPMorgan Chase & Co (-3.41%), Caterpillar Inc (-3.4%) and International Business Machines (IBM) Corp (-3.21%) all fell over >3%, as did Nvidia Corp (-3.58%), with the chipmaker slated to report its third quarter result on Wednesday next week (19 November). Infrastructure provider Cisco Systems Inc (up +4.62%) bucked the weaker trend posting better-than-expected earnings per share (EPS) and revenue of US$14.88B for its fiscal first quarter after the close of the previous session. Verizon Communications Inc +0.76% The Wall Street Journal reported that the company plans to eliminate about 15,000 jobs, mostly through layoffs. It would represent the largest cuts in the company's history, the newspaper added, noting the firm "also plans to transition about 200 stores into franchised operations, which will shift employees off its payroll.

US equity markets rallied amid signs that a historic U.S. government shutdown could be nearing its end - Dow rose +382-points or +0.81%

Nvidia Corp (up +5.79%) was the clear outperformer in the 30-stock index.
Late Sunday (9 November), the Senate advanced a procedural measure to allow other votes today on an agreement to end the US government shutdown, now at 41-days. Eight Democrats joined Republicans to reach the 60-vote threshold to advance the measure.
The broader S&P500 gained +104-points or +1.54%, logged its largest single-day point gain since 27 May, and its largest single-day percentage gain since 3 October.

US equity markets settled narrowly mixed on Friday (7 November), recovering from steeper declines earlier in the session to cap a volatile week  - Dow added +75-points or +0.16%, recovering from an earlier slide of ~400-points or -0.9%. Coca-Cola Co (up +2.16%) and Sherwin-Williams Co (+1.95%) were the leading performers in the stock index.

Technology stocks led a rebound for US equity markets - Dow rose +226-points or +0.48% Amgen Inc (up +7.81%) was the leading performer in the 30-stock index after the pharmaceutical company posted a better-than-expected third quarter result and raised its full-year sales outlook after the close of the previous session Economic bellwether Caterpillar Inc gained +3.94%. Home Depot (down -2.41%) was the worst performing Dow component overnight.


The US government shutdown reached 36-days, surpassing the previous record of 35-days that ran from 22 December 2018 to 25 January, 2019. Investors are also eying the US Supreme Court as it determines whether President Trump has the authority to impose tariffs without Congress's approval under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.

A mixed start to November for US equity markets ahead of another busy week of quarterly earnings releases - Dow fell -226-points or -0.48%, with Merck & Co Inc (down -4.06%) the worst performer in the 30-stock index.

3M Co (down -2.59%), UnitedHealth Group Inc (-2.27%) and Chevron Corp (-2.33%) all declined over >2%.  

Microsoft Corp (down -0.15%) announced it has secured export licenses to ship Nvidia Corp (+2.23%) chips to the United Arab Emirates amid Gulf’s ambitions to become an AI leader.

Amazon.com Inc rallied +4.03% to be the leading Dow component overnight, hitting a fresh record high (US$258.60) after signing a multi-year US$38B deal to supply cloud computing services to OpenAI, affording the ChatGPT maker access to Nvidia's graphics processors. Amazon soared +9.58% in the previous session after releasing stronger-than-expected third-quarter earnings after the close last Thursday’s (30 October), underpinned by a sharp acceleration in cloud revenue.