US markets closed the week on a firm footing despite some soft manufacturing data, with investors continuing to monitor the latest developments around the US-China trade negotiations - Dow up +110-points or +0.43%, paring an earlier climb of over >200-points. Walgreens Boost Alliance Inc fell -6.43% after the drugstore chain indicated that it had less of an ability to mitigate reimbursement headwinds and generic deflation pressures on its earnings outlook. The broader S&P500 +0.69% to close above the >2,800 mark for the first time since 8 November last year, with Energy (up +1.81%) the leading sector despite The NASDAQ +0.83%, with Amazon Inc gaining +1.95% after The Wall Street Journal reported the company had plans to open its own grocery store chain at a lower price point than Whole Foods. Lyft Inc inched closer to becoming the first ride-hailing company to make a stock market debut by releasing its filing for an initial public offering (IPO) on Friday (1 March). Lyft’s revenue was US$2.16B for 2018, a 103% increase over the previous year, and up 528 percent from 2017, according to the documents. For the week, the S&P500 rose +0.39% and Nasdaq +0.9% (to record a tenth consecutive weekly advance).. However, the Dow slipped -0.02% to snap its nine-week winning streak, the longest since May 1995.
