Yet another round of records for both the S&P500 and Nasdaq to end the week, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average erased its losses for 2020 - Dow up +162-points or +0.57% to 28,653.87, to be up +0.4% for the year and settling ~3% shy of its 12 February record closing high (29,568.57) ahead of a restructuring of the index that becomes effective. Walmart Inc rallied +2.69% says a deal for video sharing TikTok US could potentially benefit the retail giant’s e-commerce, marketplace and advertising businesses. Walmart jumped +4.5% on Thursday (27 August) after it was revealed that the retailer is teaming up with Microsoft Corp (up +1.03%) on a bid for the video sharing site. However, China announced new restrictions on artificial-intelligence technology exports on Friday (28 August) that could further complicate the sale of TikTok’s U.S. operations. Coca-Cola Co rose +3.32% after the company announced a reorganisation and said it would offer voluntary job cuts to 4,000 workers in the US, Canada and Puerto Rico. Visa Inc (up +2.22% to US$215.71) notched its first record close since 19 February. Both Mastercard Inc (up +2.84%) and Visa received bullish initiations Thursday at Mizuho. The broader S&P500 gained +0.67% to a fresh record closing high (3,508.01) and first settlement above >3,500. The index logged it sixth record closing high since confirming a bull market on 18 August. Energy (up +1.85%) led all eleven primary sectors higher. The technology-centric NASDAQ +0.60%. Apple Inc slipped -0.16% ahead of the company’s 4-for-1 stock split coming into effect tonight AEST. Dell Technologies Inc rose +6.05% as working and learning from home trends underpinned a better-than-expected second quarter results release for the company after the close of the previous session, Tesla Inc dipped -1.13% on the final day before the electric vehicle company’s 5-for-1 stock split becomes effective. Tesla has rallied +61% since announcing its stock split and are up +958% over the past year (to be the seventh most valuable US company by market capitalisation but one not yet in the S&P500 index).
