US equity markets advanced to kick off a busy week of key quarterly earnings releases, central bank meetings and inflation data - Dow rose for an eleventh straight session, up +184-points or +0.52% to 35,411.24. The 30-stock index logged its highest close since 9 February, 2022 and secured its longest winning streak since the 12-day trading period that ended on 27 February, 2017. The broader S&P500 gained +0.40% to 4,554.64, settling ~5% shy of it record closing high of 4,796.56 set on 3 January, 2022. Energy (up +1.66%) led nine of the eleven primary sectors higher, while the more defensive Utilities (down -0.28%) and Health Care (-0.23%) sectors sat at the foot of the primary sector leaderboard. Chevron Corp gained +1.97% after releasing a second-quarter performance update on Sunday (23 July) that was better than expected ahead of the oil major’s earnings announcement this Friday night AEST (28 July). Adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of US$3.08 (down ~47% year-on-year) topped consensus forecasts for US$2.97. The Nasdaq edged +0.19% higher, with investors eyeing second quarter earnings from a number of technology heavyweights this week including Alphabet Inc (up +1.26%), Meta Platforms Inc (down -0.90%) and Microsoft Corp (+0.39%). The small capitalisation Russell 2000 added +0.28%.
