US equity markets retreated as the military conflict in Ukraine showed no signs of abating, with Russia stepping up its bombardment of Ukraine’s biggest cities and traders seeking shelter from risk asset - Dow fell -598-points or -1.76%, paring an earlier -785-point drop. American Express was the worst performing Dow constituent overnight, down -8.47%. Goldman Sachs Group Inc and JPMorgan Chase & Co fell -3.27% and -3.77% respectively. The broader S&P500 -1.55%, with Financials (down -3.71%) leading ten of the eleven primary sectors lower. The latest decline dragged the S&P500 back into official correction territory. Energy (up +1.03%) was the only primary sector to advance, with Chevron Corp up +3.97% and Exxon Mobil Corp +0.96%. Chevron hosted its annual Investor Day overnight and said it will ramp up share buybacks as it expects higher returns across the next four years, as much as doubling its share buyback guidance range each year to US$5B to US$10B, up from a prior range of US$3B to US$5B. The energy major also said that it expected to continue to improve cost efficiency and deliver higher returns The technology-centric Nasdaq lost -1.59%. Apple Inc (down -1.16%) confirmed that it has stopped selling its products through the Apple Store in Russia. All Apple products on the company’s Russian storefront are listed as “unavailable” for purchase or delivery in the country. Apple also said overnight that it has removed Russian state-controlled outlets RT News and Sputnik News from its App Store around the world except for Russia. Nike Inc (down -3.17%) has also stopped selling products in Russia, according to a message posted on the company’s website. The small capitalisation Russell 2000 shed -1.93%.
