A rally in the final hour of trading left US equity markets little changed on Friday (20 May) - Dow inched +9-points or +0.03% higher at 31,261.90, erasing an earlier decline of as much as -617 points. A close below 29,439.72 would put the blue-chip gauge in official bear market territory. The broader S&P500 eked out a +0.01% gain to settle at 3,901.36 after trading in official bear market territory earlier in last Friday’s (20 May) session. The index traded as low as 3,810.32 (down ~2.3%) ~20.9% the S&P500’s 3 January record closing high. Consumer Discretionary (down -1.53%) and Industrials (-1.07%) both fell over >1% to lead five of the eleven primary sectors lower. The more defensive sectors of Health Care (up +1.26%) and Real Estate (+1.19%) were the leading primary sectors last Friday (20 May), gaining over >1%. The Nasdaq slipped -0.30%. Applied Materials Inc fell -3.86% The small capitalisation Russell 2000 slipped -0.17%.
