US equity markets rebounded from steep falls last Friday (22 April) albeit there was no obvious catalyst, staging their biggest intra-session turnaround in two months - Dow settled +238-points or +0.70% higher, recovering from an earlier session decline of as much as -488-points or -1.44% top log its biggest intra-day recovery since 24 February. The broader S&P500 rose +0.57%, with Communication Services (up +1.53%) and Information Technology (+1.44%) both climbing over >1% to lead seven of the eleven primary sectors higher. Energy was the big underperformer, down -3.34%. Chevron Corp fell -2.15% and Exxon Mobil Corp -3.37%. The technology centric Nasdaq gained +1.29%, buoyed by a retreat in bond yields. The Nasdaq is now sits 19.8% from its most recent record peak. Microsoft Corp gained +2.44%, Google-parent Alphabet Inc +3.04% and Meta Platforms Inc +1.56%. Twitter Inc’s rallied +5.66% after the board agreed to sell the social-media company to Elon Musk, changing course after initially gearing to fight the takeover attempt. The social-media company disclosed that the board had unanimously accepted the Tesla Inc (down -0.66%) chief executive’s offer to buy out the company for US$54.20 per share, or ~US$44B. The takeout price is ~38% ahead of Twitter’s close on 1 April, prior to when Mr Musk disclosed he had taken an ~9% stake in the company. Netflix Inc (down -2.60%) fell for a fourth consecutive session and settled near a four year low. The streaming giant has tumbled over >42% in the past four trading sessions since reporting a deeply disappointing first quarter result. The small capitalisation Russell 2000 added +0.70%. Dow tumbled -981-points or -2.82%, the index’s biggest single day decline since 28 October, 2020. UnitedHealth Group Inc fell -3.07%, shaving more than 100 points off the Dow. Caterpillar Inc fell -6.55%, also lopping almost 100-points of the 30-stock average. The broader S&P500 -2.77%, with Materials (down -3.73%), Health Care (-3.63%), Communication Services (-3.30%) and Financials (-3.00%) all declining 3%+ and leading all eleven primary sectors lower. The Nasdaq -2.5%. The small capitalisation Russell 2000 lost -2.55%. For the week, Dow lost -1.86%, its fourth straight weekly decline. The S&P500 -2.75%. Nasdaq -3.83%
