US equity markets settled narrowly mixed as an early rally in regional banking stocks faded, and with investors eyeing pivotal inflation figures later in the week - Dow eased -56-points or -0.17%, The broader S&P500 inched +0.05% higher, with Communication Services (up +1.27%) leading four of the eleven primary sectors higher thanks to solid gains from Google parent Alphabet Inc (+1.91%) and Walt Disney Co (+2.44%). The Nasdaq eked out a +0.18% gain to 12,256.91, its highest close since 12 September and enough to lift the technology centric index out of official bear market territory once again (up +20.01% from its 28 December closing low of 10,213.29). The last such exit from a bear market for the Nasdaq was 10 August last year and proved short-lived, with the index peaking just a few trading days later on 15 August before slumping back into a bear market - dropping 20% from that high - by 11 October. The small capitalisation Russell 2000 lost -0.31%. Amcor Plc fell over >2% in extended trading (after adding +0.38% in the regular session) after announcing it had signed a deal to buy Moda Systems, a maker of automated protein packaging machines. The packaging major did not disclose the size of the deal.
