• US equity markets advanced - Dow slipped -89-points or -0.21%, with Merck & Company Inc down -4.12% was the worst performer in the 30-stock index. UnitedHealth Group Inc dropped over >7% in extended trading (after sliding -1.08% in regular trading) after the Wall Street Journal reported that the U.S. Justice Department is investigating the insurer for potential criminal fraud in its Medicare Advantage business. Nvidia Corp logged a third consecutive session of gains (up +4.16%), climbing over >15% over that stretch and seeing the chipmaker become the third member of the so-called ‘Magnificent Seven’ cohort of large capitalisation stocks to move back into positive territory for the calendar year-to-date – joining fellow Dow component Microsoft Corp (+0.85%) and Meta Platforms Inc (+0.51%). Nvidia also saw its market capitalisation climb back above the US$3 trillion level for the first time since February a day earlier. Boeing Co (up +0.64%) inked a record-breaking order with Qatar Airways that will see the Middle East airline buy up to 210 jets from the US aerospace giant, marking Boeing’s largest ever order of widebody aircraft. Qatar Airways also signed an agreement with GE Aerospace (+0.75%) for more than >400 engines to power the Boeing planes
