Benchmark US equity indices retreated on Friday night (19 July), capping the worst week for equities since the end of May - Dow down -69-points or -0.25% unwinding an earlier session gain of over >100-points. The broader S&P500 lost -0.62%, with Real Estate (down -1.69%) and Utilities (-1.45%) leading eight of the eleven primary sectors lower. J C Penney Co Inc fell -16.97% following a report late last Thursday (18 July) that has hired advisors to restructure its debt in order to allow for more time for a turnaround. J C Penney released a statement late Friday (19 July) saying the company "routinely" hires outside advisors, which is helping it to take measures to improve the business. NASDAQ fell -0.74%. Microsoft Inc (up +0.15%) touched an intra-day record high (US$140.67) after crushing consensus expectations with their fiscal fourth-quarter result released after the close of last Thursday's (18 July) session. For the week, the Dow -0.70%, S&P500 -1.20% and Nasdaq -1.20%. All three indices logged their steepest weekly decline since the week ended 31 May.
