Morgans AM: Monday, 24 January 2022

US equity markets retreated on Friday (21 January), with the selling once again intensifying into the close of the session and with technology stocks under fresh selling pressure - Dow down -450-points or -1.30% . The broader S&P500 -1.89% to sit ~8.7% below its 4 January intra-day peak (4,818.62), with Communication Services (down -3.88%) and Consumer Discretionary (-3.10%) falling over >3% to lead nine of the eleven primary sectors lower. Consumer Staples (up +0.02%) was the only primary sector to advance. The Nasdaq dropped -2.72% to 13,768.92. The technology-centric index is down ~15% from its record close on 19 November (16,017.23), nearing the 20% decline from a recent peak that would meet the commonly used definition for a bear market. Netflix Inc slumped -21.79% after reporting slowing subscriber growth after the close of last Thursday’s (20 January) session. Walt Disney Co, with its Disney+ and Hulu services, fell -6.94% and streaming-device maker Roku Inc -9.10%. The small capitalisation Russell 2000 lost -1.78%.