Morgans AM: Friday, 21 April 2023

Morgans Financial Limited

US equity markets retreated following some mixed corporate earnings releases - Dow fell -110-points or -0.33%. The broader S&P500 -0.60%, with Consumer Discretionary (down -1.48%), Real Estate (-1.19%) and Energy (-0.89%) lead ten of the eleven primary sectors lower. Consumer Staples (up +0.06%) was the only primary sector to eke out a gain. Tesla Inc dropped -9.75% as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Elon Musk made clear he was willing to sacrifice margins in a push for market share in statements made following the release of the electric vehicle manufacturer’s first quarter result released after the close of the previous session. The Nasdaq lost -0.80%. Meta Platforms Inc fell -1.22% but still overtook Tesla Inc in market capitalisation terms for the first time since 20 December 2021. Meta is now the seventh largest public US company by market capitalisation at US$552.4B, pushing Tesla back to eighth spot (US$515.7B). The small capitalisation Russell 2000 lost -0.54%.