US equity markets retreated following the release of weak China international trade data for July that heightened concerns about a slowing global economy, while Moody’s Investors Service downgraded the credit ratings of 10 banks and placed six banking giants on review for potential downgrades - Dow fell -159-points or -0.45%, paring an earlier decline of as much as -465-points. Goldman Sachs Group Inc fell -2.05%. The broader S&P500 lost -0.42%, with Materials (down -1.05%) leading eight of the eleven primary sectors lower. Healthcare (up +0.78%), Utilities (+0.49%) and Energy (+0.49) were the only primary sectors to advance overnight. The Nasdaq declined -0.79%. Both the S&P500 and Nasdaq were down over >1% at their session lows and have declined for five of the past six sessions. The small capitalisation Russell 2000 lost -0.59%.
