US equity markets advanced, with both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq touching fresh record closing highs following another round of mostly solid fourth quarter earnings releases - Dow gained +174-points or +0.60% after dropping ~100-points at the start of the session. Microsoft Inc (up +2.62%) regained its title as the largest US company by market capitalisation., usurping Apple Inc. Boeing Co (up +2.35%), Visa Inc (+1.60%) and Cisco Systems Inc (+1.88%) also traded strongly. The broader S&P500 rose +0.73% (to 3,352.09), with Information Technology (up +1.35%), Consumer Discretionary (+1.26%) and Real Estate (+1.23%) all advancing more than >1% and leading ten of the eleven primary sectors higher. Energy (down -0.81% ) was the only sector to close in the red. NASDAQ rallied +1.13% (to 9,628.39). Amazon.com Inc rose +2.6% to break above US$2,100 per share for the first time. However, Apple Inc added +0.5%, recovering from an earlier slide amid concerns the outbreak will hurt production of the tech giant’s best-selling product, the iPhone. Foxconn, one of Apple’s biggest suppliers, got approval to resume production at a key China manufacturing plant (in Zhengzhou) but only 10% of its workforce has returned, Reuters reported. Separately, Samsung Electronics Co is scheduled to hold its “Galaxy Unpacked” event in San Francisco today, and the tech company is expected to unveil a host of new products.
