US equity markets settled with modest gains as investors digested the minutes from the Federal Reserve’s mid-June monetary policy meeting that saw central bank officials reiterate their resolve to aggressively tackle inflation - Dow added +70-points or +0.23%, The broader S&P500 gained +0.36%, with Utilities (up +1.01%) and Information Technology (+0.88%) leading eight of the eleven primary sectors higher. Energy dropped -1.74% to sit at the foot of the primary sector leaderboard for a second straight session. The Nasdaq rose +0.35%. Microsoft Corp rose +1.28% despite the Associated Press reporting that its acquisition of game publisher Activision Blizzard Inc (down -0.63%) will face antitrust scrutiny in the U.K., after regulators said Wednesday (6 July) they opened an initial inquiry into the US$69B deal. The small capitalisation Russell 2000 lost -0.79%.
