Some solid second quarter earnings releases and positive news on the coronavirus vaccine front lifted US equity markets - Dow settled +228-points or +0.85% higher after an opening rally of as much as +429 points or +1.61% (that lifted the index above >27,000 briefly), extending its rally into a fourth straight session. The broader S&P500 gained +0.91% . Airlines (American Airlines Group up +16.16%, United Airline Holdings +14.59% and Delta Air Lines Inc +9.54%) and cruise operators logged strong gains. Cruise operator Carnival Corp jumped +16.22% and said it is seeking to raise ~US$1.26B in debt to fund its operations as it has cancelled some sailings into 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. NASDAQ rose +0.59%. Apple Inc rose +0.69% after the General Court of the European Union annulled a 2016 European Commission order for the technology giant to pay €13B in taxes. However, other major technology names lagged, with Amazon.com Inc (down -2.44%), Google parent Alphabet Inc (-0.46%), Microsoft Corp (-0.15%) and Netflix Inc (-0.31%) all lower. Twitter Inc fell -3.36% in after hours trading after the accounts of a number of high profile people including Bill Gates, Warren Buffet and Elon Musk were hacked to seek bitcoin donations. The S&P 500 outperformed the technology-centric Nasdaq for a fourth straight day, a feat scored only twice (5 June, 27 March) since Wall Street embarked on its big recovery last March. The small capitalisation Russell 2000 index rallied +3.5%, logging its biggest one-day gain since early June.
