US equity markets advanced after resuming trading following the Martin Luther King Jnr. Day holiday, with as U.S. Treasury Secretary nominee Janet Yellen advocating for further fiscal stimulus - Dow added +116-points or +0.38%, snapping a three session slide. Boeing Co gained +3.13% as Canada said it would lift a near two-year flight ban on its 737 MAX following two fatal crashes involving the model while a final clearance from Europe to resume flying the jet is expected next week. The broader S&P500 rose +0.81%, with Energy (+2.05%), Communication Services (+1.87%) and Information Technology (+1.31%) leading eight of the eleven primary sectors higher. The more defensive sectors lagged, with Real Estate down =-0.54%, Consumer Staples -0.44% and Utilities -0.37%. General Motors Company jumped +9.75% after the automaker said it was partnering with Microsoft Corp (+1.78%) to speed up the commercialisation of driverless cars. As part of the “long-term strategic relationship,” Microsoft will join General Motors (GM) as well as Honda Motor Co. Ltd and institutional investors on a combined new US$2B equity investment in GM’s self-driving vehicle start-up Cruise. Tesla Inc rose +2.23% after the electric vehicle market leader tweeted over the weekend that it has started official deliveries of its Model Y vehicles in China. The technology-centric Nasdaq gained +1.53% to 13,197.18, settling just shy of its 8 January all-time high (13,201.98). The small capitalisation Russell 2000 index gained +1.32%. In broader stock moves, Harley Davidson Inc rose +2.1% toward a 2-year high after the motorcycle group said its 2021 line-up of bikes have arrived at its dealers.
