US equity markets advanced amid ongoing optimism around the progress of the US-China trade talks and following a better-than-expected start to the third quarter corporate earnings season - Dow up +58-points or +0.22%, with Apple Inc gaining +1.73% and touching a fresh record all-time high (US$240.99) following an upgrade by analysts at Raymond James (who lifted their target price to US$280 from US$250 and said they see "more stable near-term conditions" for Apple, including encouraging iPhone 11 channel checks). However, Boeing Co (down -3.76%) extended its recent slide as the Wall Street Journal reported that Congress was intensifying scrutiny of the plane maker as new details pointed to undue management pressure on employees and allegations suggested that officials knew of problems with its 737 MAX jet before the plane got approval to fly. Boeing alone knocked ~89-points off the Dow. The broader S&P500 rose +0.69% (to 3,006.72) to log its first close above >3,000 since 18 September and move to within 0.7% of its all-time high of 3,027.98 struck on 26 July. Approximately 8% of S&P 500 stocks hit 52-week highs overnight, the highest daily reading since 12 September. NASDAQ +0.89%. International Business Machines (IBM) fell -1.13% after UBS downgraded the company.
