US stock markets posted a strong finish to the week, with all three benchmarks gaining.
The technology sector once again led the gains as the Nasdaq added 1% despite concerns about higher bond yields on valuations.
The Dow Jones and S&P 500 also gained 0.5% and 0.7%, respectively, with the communications sector outperforming.
Both secular growth in the form of technology and consumer businesses, and cyclical growth in the form of commodities are proving resilient, with defensives including healthcare underperforming.
US stock markets post negative week
Over the week, all three benchmarks were down as the Nasdaq dropped 0.6%, the S&P 500 fell 0.3% and the Dow finished 0.7% lower, with the breaking up of conglomerates the most powerful trend.
Johnson & Johnson, Toshiba join break up
Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) and Toshiba (TYO: 6502) joined General Electric (NYSE: GE) in deciding to split their businesses.
In the case of Johnson & Johnson, the consumer and pharmaceutical divisions will be separated with brands like Band-Aid and Listerine separated from their medical device business. Both companies will be among the largest of their kind in the world.
Toshiba is attempting a similar change, breaking out its energy infrastructure, semiconductor and memory chip businesses.
The results were mixed with Toshiba shares down over 1%, Johnson & Johnson more than 1% higher and GE broadly flat.
US stock market movers
These popular US stocks were some of the biggest movers on Friday.
- Farfetch (NYSE: FTCH) up 17.7%
- Shopify (NYSE: SHOP) up 12.0%
- Airbnb (NASDAQ: ABNB) up 7.8%
- Etsy (NASDAQ: ETSY) up 7.4%
- UiPath (NYSE: PATH) down 6.5%
- HP Enterprise (NYSE: HPE) down 8.2%
Back home on the ASX, the S&P/ASX 200 (ASX: XJO) is expected to open broadly flat on Monday. For all the latest, check out my ASX 200 morning report.
