US equity markets dropped on Friday (15 January) as investors pondered incoming President Biden’s US$1.9 trillion stimulus plan and parsed quarterly results from a brace of major US banks - Dow down -177-points or -0.57%, paring an earlier decline of as much as -379-points. Dow Inc (down -%) and Chevron Corp (-%) both fell more than 3% led the 30-stock average lower. The broader S&P500 fell -0.72%, with the Energy sector dropping -4% and posting its worst one-day decline since late November. Financials (down -1.80%), Materials (-1.46%) and Industrials (-1.27%) all fell over >1%. The more defensive sectors outperformed, with Real Estate up +1.46%, Utilities +0.96% and Health Care +0.32%. Exxon Mobil Corp fell -4.81% after The Wall Street Journal reported that the Securities and Exchange Commission launched an investigation into allegations that an employee of the oil giant overstated the value of a key Permian Basin asset. Pfizer Inc slipped -0.14% after confirming it will temporarily reduce deliveries to Europe of its COVID-19 vaccine while it upgrades production capacity to 2B doses a year. The Nasdaq shed -0.87%. The small capitalisation Russell 2000 index fell -1.49%. For the week, the Dow lost -0.91%, S&P500 -1.48% and Nasdaq -1.54%. However, the Russell 2000 gained +1.50%. US equity and bond markets are CLOSED tonight AEST for the Martin Luther King holiday.
