US equity markets retreated on Friday (22 July), with a soft second quarter result from Snap Inc (down -39.08%) – including its weakest ever quarterly sales growth as a public company - after the close of last Thursday’s (21 July) session rattled investors in social media and advertising technology companies - Dow fell -138-points or -0.43%, The broader S&P500 lost -0.93% to 3,961.63, unwinding an earlier rally that saw the index briefly climb above >4,000 for the first time since 9 June. Communication Services (down -4.34%) and Information Technology (-1.38%) were the worst performing primary sectors and led eight of the eleven primary sectors lower, while more defensive sectors outperformed. Utilities rose +1.37%, Real Estate +0.79% and Consumer Staples +0.69%. The Nasdaq dropped -1.87% ahead of a big week of earnings for the technology sector. Meta Platforms Inc fell -7.59% and Alphabet Inc Inc -5.81%, weighed down by Snap’s result. The small capitalisation Russell 2000 lost -0.49%.
