US equity markets rallied, with technology stocks returning to form - Dow up +290-points or +1.05%. The broader S&P500 gained +1.4% to 3,380.35, settling just 5.8 points shy of the record closing high of 19 February of 3,386.15 (after trading above that level intra-day). Information Technology (up +2.31%) led ten of the eleven primary sectors higher, with Financials (down -0.29%) the only sector to close in the red. Royal Caribbean Group fell 2.5% after the cruise operator said it has secured a US$700M term loan facility from investment bank Morgan Stanley. The technology-centric NASDAQ rebounded +2.10%. Amazon.com Inc (+2.65%), Google parent Alphabet Inc (+1.78%) and Netflix Inc (+1.83%) all gained at least 1.5%. Microsoft Corp (up +2.86%) and Apple Inc (+3.32%) gained more than >2.8% each. Tesla Inc jumped +13.12% after the electric vehicle maker’s board approved a 5-for-1 stock split after the closing bell of the previous session. Uber Technologies Inc fell -1.19% after Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Dara Khosrowshahi warned that the company’s ride-hailing service could shut down in California until November if the company loses its appeal of a judge’s ruling requiring drivers to be classified as employees instead of contractors.
