Morgans AM: Thursday, 11 August 2022

Morgans Financial Limited

US equity markets rallied after a softer-than-expected inflation report prompted investors to dial back their forecasts on the scale of further interest rate hikes in September - Dow gained +535-points or +1.63%, exiting official correction territory. The broader S&P500 +2.13% to 4,210.24, settling +14.8% above its mid-June low. Materials (up +2.88%), Consumer Discretionary (+2.87%), Information Technology (+2.77%) and Communication Services (+2.77%) all climbing over >2.5%. All eleven primary sectors advanced, with six sector logging gains of over >2%. Tesla Inc gained +3.89% despite filings on Tuesday (9 August) with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) revealing that Elon Musk had sold ~7.9M shares between Friday (5 August) and Tuesday at prices ranging from US$838.57 to US$911.75 - ~US$6.88B in total. In a tweet, Mr Musk indicated he was done selling, adding: “In the (hopefully unlikely) event that Twitter forces this deal to close *and* some equity partners don’t come through, it is important to avoid an emergency sale of Tesla stock.” Last week, Tesla shareholders approved plans for a 3-for-1 stock split, which will take place 24 August. Trading will begin on a stock split-adjusted basis on 25 August, the company said in a regulatory filing. The Nasdaq rallied +2.85% to 12,854.80, exiting official bear market territory after 107 trading sessions. The technology-centric index is up 20.75% from its 2022 closing low of 10646.10 hit on 16 June, 2022. Meta Platforms Inc rose +5.82% after the Facebook-parent said that it had raised US$10B in its first-ever bond offering. Apple Inc (up +2.62%), Alphabet Inc (+2.63%) and Amazon.com Inc (+3.53%) all rose more than >2%. The small capitalisation Russell 2000 jumped +2.95%.