US equity markets retreated as investors rotated out of growth names, resuming a trend seen earlier this year amid rising fears of inflation and higher interest rates - Dow slipped -35-points or -0.10%, turning negative in the final minutes of trading and relinquishing an earlier gain of over >300-points that saw the index hit a fresh record intra-day high (35,091.56) and pulling back from the previous session’s record closing high (34,777.76). The broader S&P500 lost -1.04% after trading ~1% higher earlier in the session, pulling back from last Friday’s (7 May) record closing high of 4,232.60. Information Technology (down -2.53%), Consumer Discretionary (-1.95%) and Communication Services (-1.91%) led six of the eleven primary sectors lower. Utilities (up +1.01) and Consumer Staples (+0.77%) were the leading primary sector performers. The technology-centric Nasdaq slumped -2.52% and settled near its sessions lows, logging its worst single session performance since 18 March. Facebook Inc (down -4.11%) and Google parent Alphabet Inc (-2.38%) fell sharply after a Citibank analyst cut ratings on the stocks to neutral from buy, citing worries that investors have become overly bullish about the online-advertising market. Microsoft Corp (down -2.09%) and Apple Inc (-2.58%) both fell over >2%. The small capitalisation Russell 2000 lost -2.59%.
