US equity markets - Dow eased -28-points or -0.10%, The broader S&P500 lost -0.33%. Utilities (down -3.42%) and Real Estate (-3.42%) led eight of the eleven primary sectors lower. Energy returned to the top of the primary sector leaderboard with a +0.75% gain. Intel Corp rose +1.13%, with Bloomberg reporting that the company may fire thousands of workers by the end of the month, around the same time the chip manufacturer reports its third quarter result (27 October) amid a tough year for semiconductor makers. Intel has around 121,100 employees worldwide. While the report did not include geographical specificity concerning the targeted jobs, it said the sales and marketing departments could see up to 20% reductions in staff. The Nasdaq dipped -0.09%. The small capitalisation Russell 2000 slipped -0.3%.
