US equity markets retreated as investors eyed weaker consumer confidence data, some disappointing corporate earnings releases and the ongoing wrangling in the US congress over a fresh coronavirus aid plan - Dow fell -205-points or -0.77% The broader S&P500 shed -0.65%, with Materials (down -2.18%) and Energy (1.75%) leading eight of the eleven primary sectors lower. Real Estate (up +2.05%), Utilities (+1.56%) and Consumer Staples (+0.30%) advanced. The technology-centric NASDAQ fell -1.27%, with the FAANG complex (Facebook Inc -1.45%, Apple Inc -1.64%, Amazon.com Inc -1.8%, Netflix Inc -1.44% and Google-parent Alphabet Inc -1.95%) largely unwinding the gains of the previous session. The major Congressional hearing on competition in the U.S. technology sector takes place later today AEST and is set to see Amazon Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Jeff Bezos, Apple CEO Tim Cook, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Google CEO Sundar Pichai testify before the House Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee.
