US equity markets concluded a volatile month of trading little changed amid a low volume session ahead of the holiday long weekend - Dow added +41-points or +0.16% The broader S&P500 inched +0.06% higher, NASDAQ slipped -0.13%. For the week, the Dow gained +3.02%, S&P500 +2.79% and Nasdaq +2.72%. For the month, the Dow retreated -1.72%. The S&P500 shed -1.81% albeit still sits ~17% higher calendar year-to-date and within 3.3% of its all time record closing high struck in July. ExxonMobil Corp is poised to drop out of the S&P500 indice's top 10 biggest companies for the first time since the index's inception ~90-years ago . Visa Inc is set to replace ExxonMobil Corp in the top 10 when S&P Dow Jones Indices publishes its month end weightings. ExxonMobil Corp was the biggest company in the S&P 500 in 2009 but has been replaced by Microsoft Corp in the top position (with Apple Inc, Amazon.com Inc, Facebook Inc and Berkshire Hathaway Inc rounding out the current top 5). The Energy sector accounts for ~4.4% of the S&P500 compared to ~11.7% a decade ago. The Nasdaq lost -2.6%. US equity markets are CLOSED tonight AEST for the Labor Day Holiday.
