US equity markets firmer as strong corporate earnings bolstered the mood on Wall Street - Dow dipped -6-points, with IBM (down -%) The broader S&P500 added +0.30% to 4,459.78, booking its first record closing high in seven weeks after logging an intra-day record of 4,551.44. Consumer Discretionary (up +1.38%) led seven of the eleven primary sectors higher. Energy (down -1.85%) was the worst performing primary sector as US crude prices pulled back from seven year highs overnight. The Nasdaq rose +0.62%. The small capitalisation Russell 2000 added +0.28%.
