US equity markets retreated on Friday (14 April) as investors assessed a weak retail sales report and some hawkish comments from Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller that dented enthusiasm around a stronger-than-expected start to the first quarter corporate earnings season - Dow fell -143-points or -0.42%, Boeing Co dropped -5.56% after the company warned after the close of the previous session that a manufacturing hang-up could cause problems for production and delivery of “a significant number” of 737 Max planes. The broader S&P500 eased -0.21%, with the more defensive sectors leading the declines. Real Estate (down -1.68%), Utilities (-1.11%) and Health Care (-0.79%) were the worst performing sectors on Friday (14 April), leading seven of the eleven primary sectors lower. Financials (up +1.05%) sat atop the primary sector leaderboard. The Nasdaq fell -0.35%. The small capitalisation Russell 2000 lost -0.86%.
