US equity markets little changed on Friday (18 August) as gains for more defensive sectors and Energy offset fresh weakness among megacap technology names - Dow edged +26-points or +0.07% higher, snapping a three-session losing streak. The broader S&P500 dipped -0.01%, with Communication Services (down -0.98%) leading five of the eleven primary sectors lower. Energy (up +0.94%) sat atop the primary sector leaderboard, with Devon Energy up +1.90%, Marathon Oil +1.49% and Occidental Petroleum +1.44%. The Nasdaq slipped -0.20%, with Alphabet Inc (-1.80%), Amazon.com Inc (-0.57%), Meta Platforms Inc (down -0.65%) and Microsoft Corp (-0.13%) all weaker. The small capitalisation Russell 2000 rose +0.51%.
