US equity markets advanced, with the S&P500 entering bull market territory as investors eye inflation data and key central bank meetings next week - Dow rose +169-points or +0.50%. Boeing Co rallied +2.92% to US$218.11, falling short of its 52-week closing high by US$0.34c. The stock is up more than >60% over the past 12-months, but is down more than >50% from its record closing high of $440.62 on 1 March, 2019, before the pandemic and before the second of two deadly crashes that led to the worldwide grounding of the 737 MAX jet. The broader S&P500 gained +0.62% to 4,293.93, logging its highest close since 16 August, 2022 and clawing its way out of bear market territory. The index closed 20.04% above its closing low of 3,577.03 set on 12 October last year, meeting the widely accepted definition of the end of a bear market (being a 20% rally off the bear-market closing low). Consumer Discretionary (up +1.56%) and Information Technology (+1.20%) climbed over >1% to lead seven of the eleven primary sectors higher. Real Estate (down -0.63%) sat at the foot of the primary sector leaderboard. The Nasdaq rallied +1.02%, with Amazon.com Inc gaining +2.49%. Wells Fargo analyst Ken Gawrelski, who launched coverage on 13 large-capitalisation internet stocks, named Amazon his top pick, one of just two stocks he launched with an ‘Overweight’ rating, along with Uber Technologies Inc (+3.26%). The small capitalisation Russell 2000 eased -0.41%, but has climbed ~2.7% this week to date.
