US equity markets logged sharp falls, with losses accelerating in the final hour of trading as technology stocks took a fresh leg lower - Dow dropped -525-points or -1.92%, unwinding an earlier +176-point rally. Johnson & Johnson (up +0.16%) announced the start of a 60,000-person clinical trial of its single-dose COVID-19 vaccine on three continents, making the drugmaker the fourth experimental vaccine candidate to enter final-stage testing in the U.S. Nike Inc gained +8.76% after posting fiscal first quarter numbers that were well above Wall Street’s expectations after the closing bell of the previous session. The broader S&P500 fell -2.37%, with Energy (down -4.55%) and Information Technology (-3.21%) leading all eleven primary sectors lower. NASDAQ tumbled -3.02%. Apple Inc fell -4.19%, with UBS downgrading the stock to ‘neutral’ from ‘buy’ and noting that the valuation “reflects a growth trajectory that we believe is unsustainable. Tesla Inc dropped -10.34% after the electric-auto maker unveiled innovations and increased efficiencies that seemingly underwhelmed investors at its “Battery Day” event. The stock was also under pressure after Tesla sued the U.S. government to overturn tariffs on China.
