US equity markets retreated and bond markets rallied on Friday (4 March) as investors sought out havens amid the escalating war between Russia and Ukraine - Dow down -180-points or -0.53%, paring an earlier decline of over >500-points. American Express Co (down -3.86%), JPMorgan Chase & Co (down 2.81%) and Goldman Sachs Group Inc (-1.12%) were notable laggards. However, more defensive names like Walmart Inc (up +2.53%) and UnitedHealth Inc Group Inc (+2.48%) outperformed. The broader S&P500 -0.79%. Financials (down -1.96%), Information Technology (-1.78%) and Consumer Discretionary (-1.51%) all fell over >1.5% to lead six of the eleven primary sectors lower. Energy (up +2.85%) once again sat atop the primary sector leaderboard, while Utilities gained +2.19%. Occidental Petroleum jumped +17.59%. In a filing late Friday (4 March), Berkshire Hathaway said it holds a total of 113.7M shares of Occidental, including both the stock and warrants. The combined holding represents 11.2% of Occidental’s outstanding shares but that overstates Berkshire’s investment since the warrant exercise price is out of the money (or above the current stock price). Travel and leisure-related companies were under fresh pressure, with American Airlines Group Inc down -7.13%, Delta Air Lines Inc -5.58% and United Airlines Holdings Inc -9.07%. The Nasdaq -1.66%. Apple Inc (down -1.56%) hosted its annual shareholder meeting on Friday (4 March) and stages its spring product launch event on Tuesday night AEST (8 March). Microsoft Corp (down -2.05%) and Netflix Inc (-1.72%) announced they were suspending new sales and services in Moscow. The small capitalisation Russell 2000 -1.56%. For the week, Dow lost -1.30%, logging its fourth straight weekly decline. The S&P500 shed -1.27% and the Nasdaq -2.78%.
