US equity markets rallied as investors navigated one of the busiest weeks of the first-quarter corporate earnings season, with three (3) Dow constituents posting results overnight - Dow up +500-points or +1.45%. The broader S&P500 +1.61%. Consumer Discretionary (up +2.91%), Real Estate (+2.12%), and Communication Services (+2.07%) all gained over >2% to lead ten of the eleven primary sectors higher. Energy (down -0.96%) was the only primary sector to settle in the red. The Nasdaq rallied +2.15%. Twitter Inc fell -4.73% after the Wall Street Journal reported late Monday (18 April) that the social media company is expected to formally rebuff Elon Musk's US$54.20 per share offer in the coming days and that private-equity powerhouse Apollo Global Management Inc was considering whether to join in a bid. CNBC later reported that Apollo’s interest was focused on lending money to potential purchasers, not on a private-equity-style buyout. Twitter is slated to reports on 28 April. The small capitalisation Russell 2000 gained +2.04%.
