US equity markets retreated although a late session rally left the key indices well off their worst level of the session - Dow fell -510-points or -1.84%, well off its session lows that saw the index down as much as -942-points or -3.4%. JPMorgan Chase & Co fell -3.09% after being named in a leaked a report citing confidential documents that a number of global banks moved allegedly illicit funds over the past two decades despite warnings from U.S. officials. The broader S&P500 shed -1.16% to 3,281.06, paring an earlier decline of as much as -2.7%. A close below 3,222.76 would have put the index into correction territory (i.e. a drop of over >10% from its most recent peak). The latest falls marked the first time since February that the S&P 500 posted four straight daily losses. Materials (down -3.41%), Industrials (-3.38%) and Energy (-3.27%) logged declines of over >3% and led ten of the eleven primary sectors lower. Information Technology (up +0.76%) was the only primary sector to close in positive territory. Airlines (Delta Air Lines Inc fell -9.2% and United Airlines Holdings Inc -8.6%) and other travel-related stocks (Carnival Corp -6.66%)) were under pressure amid fresh coronavirus concerns. NASDAQ dipped -0.13%, staging an impressive intra-day turnaround that saw the technology-centric index recover from a drop of over >2.5%. The Nasdaq-100 index, comprising the Nasdaq Composite’s 100 largest companies, added +0.4%. Microsoft Corp rose +1.07% after announcing the acquisition of ZeniMax Media and its game publisher Bethesda Softworks for US$7.5B in cash. Apple Inc rose +3.03% and Netflix Inc +3.70%. In broader stock moves, Tesla Inc rose +1.6% in regular trading only to fall -5.33% in the extended session ahead of their “Battery Day” tonight AEST. Luxury homebuilder Toll Brothers Inc rose +5.1% after the company issued an upbeat mid-quarter update. Nikola Corp dropped -19.3% after founder Trevor Milton resigned as executive chairman following allegations by a short seller the company had misled investors about its technology.
