Morgans AM: Thursday 18 February 2021

Morgans Financial Limited

US equity markets mixed amid a rotation out of technology stocks and as inflation concerns continued to apply some pressure on equities - Dow added +90-points or +0.29% to a fresh record closing high of 31,613.02, recovering from an earlier decline of as much as -180-points. Verizon Communications Inc (up +5.24%) and Chevron Corp (+3.00%) were among the leading index performers Warren Buffett’s investment vehicle Berkshire Hathaway disclosed fresh stakes in both companies. The broader S&P500 dipped -0.03%, with Information Technology (down -1.03%) the worst performing primary sector and offsetting a +1.45% gain for the Energy sector. Wells Fargo and Co rallied +5.17% after Bloomberg News reported that Fed officials had signalled to the diversified financials group that they would approve its overhaul plan. Wells Fargo has been operating under several restrictions, including an asset camp, related to its fake accounts scandal under prior leadership. The Nasdaq shed -0.58%. Apple Inc fell -1.76%, with Berkshire Hathaway disclosing it had trimmed its position in the company over the past quarter by -6% to just over 887M shares. The small capitalisation Russell 2000 index fell -0.74%.