US equity markets rallied to open the new financial year, with the S&P500 hitting a fresh record closing high albeit the benchmark indices closed off their best levels of the session - Dow up +117-points or +0.44%, paring an earlier +290-point climb. Nike Inc +1.74% and Apple Inc +1.83% were among the leading index performers. However, Boeing Co fell -2.07% and alone cut more than >50-points from the Dow. The broader S&P500 +0.77% to 2964.33, marking its sixth record close of 2019 and with the index also touching a fresh record intra-day high (2,977.93). The technology centric NASDAQ +1.06%, with chipmakers (Micron Technology +3.9%, Qualcomm Inc +1.9% and Broadcomm Inc +4.3%). among the leading performers. The weekend news of a trade truce between the US and China lifted investor sentiment. People’s Bank of China (PBoC) Governor Yi Gang said the outcome from the weekend’s meeting was “better than expected,” according to Reuters. However, the Director of the US National Economic Council Larry Kudlow commented in an interview with Fox News on Sunday (30 June) that President Trump was not granting Huawei “general amnesty”. He also said there is no timetable for when a deal might be finalised. In merger and acquisition (M&A) news, Applied Materials Inc rose +1.7% after the chip-equipment company said that it will purchase Kokusai Electric for US$2.2B in cash from private-equity giant KKR & Co. Genesee & Wyoming Inc rallied 8.8%, after the railroad company agreed to be acquired by Brookfield Infrastructure Partners LP, in a deal valued at US$8.4B.
