Morgans AM: Tuesday, 20 December 2022

US equity markets settled in the red for a fourth consecutive session, extending a drop last week sparked by a new round of interest rate rises and hawkish comments from central bankers - Dow fell -163-points or -0.49%, with Walt Disney Co (down -4.79%) and Nike Inc (-2.79%) among the biggest drags. A $1 move in any of the Dow's 30 components results in a 6.59-point swing. The broader S&P500 shed -0.90%, with Communication Services (down -2.19%) and Consumer Discretionary (-1.66%) both declining over >1.5% to lead ten of the eleven primary sectors lower. Energy was the only primary sector to advance overnight, edging +0.13% higher. Tesla Inc fell -0.24% to US$149.87, settling below <US$150 per share for the first time in more than two years as some analysts expressed concerns that Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Elon Musk is being distracted by his recent acquisition of social media group Twitter. Factoring in the stock’s 3-for-1 split in August, shares closed lower than they have since 15 October, 2020, when they finished at a split-adjusted US$149.63. The Nasdaq lost -1.49%, with Amazon.com Inc down -3.35%. Meta Platforms Inc -4.14% after the European Union (EU) issued the Facebook parent with a list of objections over of its online classifieds business, Facebook Marketplace. The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, said that it found Meta breached EU antitrust rules by distorting competition in the markets for online classified ads. The small capitalisation Russell 2000 dropped -1.41%.