US equity markets retreated as investors braced for central banks to tighten monetary policy despite Russia’s invasion of Ukraine - Dow eased -112-points or -0.34% . Goldman Sachs Group Inc (-1.11%) became the first major Wall Street bank to pull out of Russia, saying it was winding down its business in Russia, in accordance with the relevant regulatory and licensing rules. The announcement came after the investment bank disclosed a credit exposure to Russia of US$650M. FedEx Corp (up +1.18%) announced that chief executive officer and president Donald Colleran will retire 31 December. The broader S&P500 lost -0.43%, with Information Technology (down -1.76%) led six of the eleven primary sectors lower. Energy (up +3.07%) returned to the top of the primary sector leaderboard overnight, with Chevron Corp up +2.74% and Exxon Mobil Corp +3.10%. The technology-centric Nasdaq -0.95%, with Apple Inc (down -2.72%) and Meta Platforms (-1.66%) among the key drags. However, Amazon.com Inc gained +5.41% and logged its second best daily rise of 2022 after the company announced a 20-for-1 stock split and US$10B buyback after the closing bell of the previous session. The small capitalisation Russell 2000 slipped -0.23%.
