Some solid quarterly earnings updates in the retail sector combined with some encouraging economic data helped lift the benchmark US equity indices - Dow up +63-points or +0.25% and the broader S&P500 +0.41%, NASDAQ +0.63%. The small capitalisation Russell 2000 Index hit a fresh record intraday high (1,620.64), before settling +1% higher (at 1,616.37). Teva Pharmaceutical rose almost 3% after Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway revealed it increased its stake in the company. Twenty-First Century Fox Inc (up +0.96%) have announced Lachlan Murdoch will be Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) after the company sells the majority of its assets to The Walt Disney Company. The dollar index carved out a fresh 2018 high (93.631).
