Morgans AM: Monday, 14 August 2023

The S&P500 and Nasdaq fell on Friday (11 August) and posted their second straight weekly losses, as hotter-than-expected U.S. producer prices data pushed Treasury yields higher and pressured rate-sensitive megacap growth stocks – Dow rose +105-points or +0.30%, with energy giant Chevron Corp (up +2.06%) and pharmaceutical major Merck & Co (+1.77%) The broader S&P500 slipped -0.11% to 4,464.05, with Information Technology (down -0.88%) leading four of the eleven primary sectors lower. Energy (up +1.56%) sat atop the primary sector leaderboard. Tesla Inc fell -1.10% a day after a pair of exchange-traded funds (ETF) managed by Cathie Wood’s ARK Investment sold more shares in the electric vehicle manufacturer. Through Friday’s (11 August) close, the S&P500 index is still up nearly 25% from its bear-market closing low of 3,577.03 hit on 12 October. The Nasdaq fell -0.68%, with semiconductor stocks particularly weak including Advanced Micro Devices Inc -2.41%, Nvidia Corp -3.62% and Micron Technology Inc -1.64%. Foxconn Technology Group (also know as Hon Hai Technology Group), the company responsible for manufacturing Apple Inc’s (up +0.03%) iPhone in China, reports its second quarter result today. The small capitalisation Russell 2000 edged +0.13% higher.