US markets rallied as investors cheered another round of strong economic data albeit the benchmark indices pared earlier gains as investors grappled with inflationary concerns and a big jump in Treasury yields - Dow climbed +54-points or +0.20% to a fresh record closing high (26,828.39) for the 15th time this year and also touched a record intra-day high (26,951.18) earlier in the session. General Motors gained 2.1 percent after the company announced Honda is investing in GM's Cruise Holdings subsidiary. The two automakers will work toward building an autonomous vehicle. GM also said Honda's investment puts Cruise's valuation at $14.6 billion. The broader S&P500 inched +0.07% higher, with solid gains for the Energy and Financials sectors (both advancing +0.82%) offset by weakness in Utilities (down -1.23%), Consumer Staples (-1.06%) and Real Estate (-0.98%). The NASDAQ +0.32%. Elsewhere, there were reports that US miner Peabody Energy Corp has held discussions to buy Colombian peer Drummond International LLC, a potential deal that would see Peabody acquire 80% of Drummond International, Colombia’s top coal exporter, leaving the remaining 20% in the hands of Japanese trading house Itochu Corp. Itochu paid US$1.5B for the 20% stake in Drummond in 2011.
