US equity markets erased opening losses to settle with modest gains - Dow +45-points or +0.15%, recovering from an earlier decline of over >200-points. The broader S&P500 climbed +0.39%, with Energy (up +1.53%) leading nine of the eleven primary sectors higher. Utilities (down -1.03%) and Health Care (-0.14%) closed in the red. PepsiCo Inc announced after the close that its board of directors have authorised a quarterly dividend of US$1.0225 a share, a 7% increase from the comparable year-ago period. The technology-centric Nasdaq gained +0.89%. Among the big technology names Amazon.com Inc gained +0.37%, Google-parent Alphabet Inc +0.98%, Apple Inc +0.52% and Microsoft Corp +0.63%. The small capitalisation Russell 200 index rose +0.84%.
