Morgans AM: Thursday, 9 February 2023

US equity markets retreated as investors continued to ponder the latest observations from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell delivered a day earlier, and comments from a parade of central bank officials overnight - Dow fell -208-points or -0.61%. Salesforce Inc rose ~0.8% in extending trading (after falling -0.96% in regular trading) following reports a fifth activist investor, Third Point LLC, had acquired a stake in the company. Salesforce has also been reportedly targeted by ValueAct Capital Partners LP, Elliott Investment Management LP, Starboard Value LP and Inclusive Capital amid slowing growth. The broader S&P500 shed -1.11%, with Communication Services (down -4.13%) leading all eleven primary sectors lower as Alphabet Inc shed -7.68% after the company held an event to show off its new artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot called Bard, one day after competitor Microsoft Corp (-0.31%) held an event to show off AI technologies in its competing search engine. Tesla Inc rose +% The Nasdaq dropped -1.68%. The small capitalisation Russell 2000 lost -1.52%. Traders noted there may be more clarity on the Federal Reserve’s next interest rate move with the publication of consumer price index, retail and inflation data next week.