Morgans AM: Friday, 11 August 2023

US equity markets settled little changed, with all three benchmark indices relinquishing earlier gains of over >1% as investors balanced softer inflation figures against a weaker-than-expected 30-year bond auction - Dow eked out a +3-point gain to 35,126.12, paring an earlier rally of as much as +450-points. Walt Disney Co rallied +4.88% despite a mixed fiscal third quarter result released after the close of the previous session, with the company announcing an upcoming price hike for ad-free Disney+ subscriptions. The broader S&P500 inched +0.03% higher, with gains for Communication Services (up +0.43%) and Consumer Discretionary (+0.28%) largely offset by declines for Utilities (down -0.32%) and Real Estate (-0.31%). The technology-centric Nasdaq edged +0.08% higher. Among the so-called “Magnificent Seven” stocks credited with being the biggest contributors to this year’s rally, Apple Inc (down -0.12%), Nvidia Corp (-0.39%), Microsoft Corp (up +0.22%) and Tesla Inc (+1.30%) all closed below their 50-day averages this week. The small capitalisation Russell 2000 lost -0.42%.