US equity markets mostly firmer on Friday (4 January) - Dow slipped -21-points or -0.06%, with declines in UnitedHealth Group Inc (down -1.15%), Home Depot Inc (-1.41%) and 3M Co (-2.23%) overshadowing solid gains for Goldman Sachs Group Inc (up +2.43%) and Salesforce.com Inc (+3.04%). The broader S&P500 added +0.52%, with the Consumer Discretionary sector (up +3.74%) leading five of the eleven primary sectors higher, underpinned by Amazon.com Inc’s +13.54% jump following the company’s strong fourth quarter result after the closing bell last Thursday (3 February). Some US$11.8B of the US$14.3B fourth-quarter profit it reported was from an investment in Rivian Automotive, which went public in the quarter. Financials (up +1.66%) and Energy (+1.58%) also performed strongly. Materials (down -1.72%) and Real Estate (-1.26%) brought up the rear on Friday (4 February). Ford Motor Co dropped -9.07% after the automaker posted weaker-than-expected fourth quarter earnings after the close of the previous session. The company also confirmed over the weekend earlier reports that it would be rolling back production at some of its plants beginning this week. Chief Executive Jim Farley acknowledged supply-chain problems - such as a shortage of semiconductors - at the auto maker in an interview with Barron’s on Friday (4 January), and said the shortages were adding to rising costs and constraining production. The Nasdaq rallied +1.58% after dipping into the red shortly after the opening bell. Amazon.com Inc broke the record Friday (4 February) for the largest-ever one-day gain in market value (US$191.3B) for a U.S. company - just a day after Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc (down -0.28%) suffered the largest-ever daily loss in market capitalisation (US$232B). The small capitalisation Russell 2000 rose +0.57%. Snap Inc soared +58.82% after the social media group reported better-than-expected fourth quarter user growth and an upbeat outlook after the close of the previous session.
