US equity markets mostly higher, with the Nasdaq logging its fifth record closing high for the month to date - Dow down -86-points or -0.31%. Home Depot Inc gained +2.74% ahead of their second quarter result before the opening bell tonight AEST, with the Wall Street Journal reporting foot traffic at the home improvement retailer has soared at least 35% since April despite the pandemic. The broader S&P500 added +0.27% (to 3,381.99), trading above its 19 February record closing high (3,386.15) earlier in the session. Consumer Discretionary sector (up +1.21%) led seven of the eleven primary sectors higher, with Financials (down -1.54%) the clear underperformer. The technology-centric NASDAQ outperformed with a +1.03% gain (to 11,129.73). Tesla Inc (up +11.2% to a record close of US$1,835.64) climbed above >US$1,800 per share for the first time, buoyed by an analyst upgrade at Wedbush who cited accelerating sales in China. Friday (21 August) is the record date for Tesla’s 5-for-1 stock split. Nvidia Corp rallied +6.7% (to US$493.48) ahead of the company’s second quarter result on Wednesday night AEST (19 August), pushing the chipmaker’s market capitalisation above >US$300B for the first time and consolidating its place as the largest US chip company. In merger and acquisition (M&A) headlines, Amazon.com Inc rose +1.09%, with Reuters reporting that the e-commerce giant wants a minority stake in cloud company Rackspace Technology (+10.30%).
