US equity markets settled narrowly mixed , with comments from President Joe Biden that China was poised to “eat our lunch” tempering investor sentiment - Dow slipped -8-points or +0.02% . The broader S&P500 edged +0.17% higher to eke out a record closing high (3,916.38), with Information Technology (up +1.09%) leading four of the eleven primary sectors higher in what was a narrow advance, buoyed by gains for Nvdia Corp (up +3.3%) and Intel Corp (+3.06%) . Energy (down -1.53%) was the worst performing primary sector. Mastercard Inc rose +2.59% after the credit-card company said it was planning to offer support for some cryptocurrencies on its network this year, joining a string of big-ticket firms that have pledged similar support.
