Morgans AM: Thursday, 2 March 2023

Morgans Financial Limited

A mixed start to March for US equity markets - Dow inched +5-points higher. 3M Co gained +2.29%, rebounding from a five month low after the maker of consumer, industrial and healthcare products said the U.S. Department of Defence’s records show that the “vast majority” of the 175,000 claimants in litigation over the company’s Combat Arms earplugs have “no hearing impairment” under American Medical Association standards. Some analysts had estimated potential liabilities from the litigation at ~US$14B. Caterpillar Inc rallied +3.81% after the construction- and mining-equipment maker said it reached a six-year “tentative labour agreement” with the United Autoworkers (UAW) union. The broader S&P500 eased -0.47%, with Utilities (down -1.72%), Real Estate (-1.49%), and Consumer Discretionary (-1.28%) all down over >1% and leading eight of the eleven primary sectors lower. Energy (up +1.94%) sat atop the primary sector leaderboard. Tesla Inc fell over >2.5% in extended trading (extending a -1.43% decline in the regular session) as the electric vehicle manufacturer’s Investor Day got underway. The Nasdaq lost -0.66%. The small capitalisation Russell 2000 eked out a +0.07% gain.