Better-than-expected corporate earnings and economic data lifted US markets as the US Senate prepared to again debate on the repeal of the Affordable Health Care Act (or Obamacare) - Dow up +100-points or +0.47% (with Caterpillar up +5.88% the leading index performer after posting better-than-expected second-quarter numbers and an upbeat outlook after the close of the previous session) and the broader S&P500 +0.29% to a fresh record closing high (with the Financials, Materials and Energy sectors all advancing more than >1%). NASDAQ inched +0.02% higher and set fresh record intra-day and closing highs, with Alphabet down -2.93% capping gains. Wall Street also has its sights set on the Federal Reserve, which kicked off their latest 2-day monetary policy meeting. No change to interest rates are expected (with Fed fund futures markets pricing in just a 3.1% chance of a rate hike), with the focus on whether the central bank announces a start time for unwinding their balance sheet.
