US equity markets mixed to close out a strong week as Wall Street tempered its rate-cut hopes following the latest inflation and retail sales data - Dow added +35-points or +0.08% to 44,946.12, logging its first record intra-day high (45,203.52) since December in the opening minutes of last Friday’s (15 August) session. UnitedHealth Group Inc jumped +11.98% after filings released after the close of the previous session with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recorded that Berkshire Hathaway Inc took a new positions in the health insurer. Cisco Systems Inc (down -4.47%) was the worst performing Dow component, with HSBC downgrading the networking giant to a ‘hold’ recommendation from ‘buy’ following the company’s fiscal fourth quarter result a day earlier.
