US equity markets settled with modest gains as investors weighed the prospect of more fiscal stimulus against concerns around of further business disruptions due to a fresh rise in COVID-19 cases - Dow slipped -63-points or -0.23%, with Goldman Sachs Group Inc (down -1.5%) a key drag. The broader S&P500 rose +0.28%, with Utilities (up +2.28%), Real Estate (+1.40%) and Health Care (+1.36%) leading the gains and offsetting declines for Energy (down -1.52%) and Financials (-0.84%). The technology centric NASDAQ added +0.28%. Netflix Inc fell -6.5% after the streaming giant’s second quarter result released after the closing bell of last Thursday’s (16 July) session undershot analysts’ expectations in terms of earnings per share (US$1.51 versus US$1.81 expected) and was accompanied by weak third quarter guidance for subscriber growth. Amazon.com Inc fell -1.3% to cap its worst weekly performance since the week ended 28 February - and first weekly loss in eleven weeks - with a -7.4% decline. The Wall Street Journal reported over the weekend that The Walt Disney Co has “dramatically” slashed its advertising budget on Facebook Inc and Facebook-owned Instagram. Disney was Facebook’s biggest U.S. advertiser for the first six months of 2020, according to research firm Pathmatics Inc.
