Morgans AM: Friday, 10 February 2023

US equity markets retreated, reversing earlier session gains - Dow fell -249-points or -0.73%, unwinding an earlier rally of over >300-points. Walt Disney Co fell -1.27% after the entertainment giant topped fiscal first-quarter expectations, and Chief Executive Bob Iger announced significant restructuring plans after the close of the previous session. Activist investor Nelson Peltz also called time on his proxy fight against Disney. Salesforce Inc rose +2.38% following news after the close of the previous session that a fifth activist investor, Third Point LLC, had acquired a stake in the company. The broader S&P500 -0.88%, giving up an earlier ~0.9% gain. Communication Services (down -2.80%) was the worst performing sector for a second straight session and led all eleven primary sectors lower. Tesla Inc (up +3.00%) extended its rally into an eighth straight session and has more than doubled since touching a 52-week low. Elon Musk said the electric vehicle maker’s Master Plan 3 would be unveiled at the company’s annual meeting and investor event on 1 March. The Nasdaq -1.02%, having been ~1.4% higher earlier in the session. Google parent Alphabet Inc fell -0.69% (following a -7.68% drop in the previous session) a day after the company held an event to show off its new artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot called Bard, and as investors grew concerned around rising competition in the artificial intelligence (AI) space. Microsoft Corp (-1.17%) held an event to show off its own AI technologies in its competing search engine earlier in the week. The small capitalisation Russell 2000 lost -1.33%.