US equity markets staged a decent rebound from last Friday's (23 August) sharp falls, with the benchmark indices settling near their session highs - Dow up +270-points or +1.05%, with Apple Inc (up +1.9%) rebounding from last Friday's (23 August) -% fall. Johnson & Johnson rose ~4% in after-hours trade after a judge ordered the consumer-products giant to pay US$572M for contributing to the opioid crisis in Oklahoma. The amount was less than the US$1B some analysts had expected the company to be fined. The broader S&P500 gained +1.10% (to 2,878.38), with Communication Services (up +1.53%) and Information Technology (+1.39%) leading all eleven primary sectors higher. Despite the volatility induced by the S&P500 remains in its 2,820 - 2,950 range so far in August. The technology-centric NASDAQ rose +1.32%. Trading volumes were ~20% lower than the daily average, with UK equity markets closed for a Bank Holiday. Some traders were also suggesting that there were some early signs of some rebalancing ahead of the Labor Day long weekend that sees US equity markets closed on Monday next week (2 September). In merger and acquisition (M&A) news, Amgen Inc rose +3.2% after the biotechnology firm announced an agreement to buy Otezla, a subsidiary of Celgene Corp (up +3.2%) for US$13.4B in cash. Bristol-Myers Squibb Co (+3.28%) said that the deal was part of the regulatory approval process for its pending acquisition of Celgene. Separately, Pitney Bowes Inc fell -8.3% after announcing that it was selling its software solutions business to data company Syncsort for US$700M.
