US equity markets rallied, lifting the S&P500 to a yet another record closing high - Dow rose +278-points or +0.80% to 35,116.40 (and within 0.5% of a fresh record closing high), recovering from an earlier, brief decline of over >100-points The broader S&P500 gained +0.82% to 4,423.15, notching its 42nd record closing high of 2021. Energy (up +1.83%), Health Care (+1.41%), Industrials (+1.38%), Financials (+1.13%) and Materials (+1.01%) al gained over >1% to lead ten of the eleven primary sectors higher. Communication Services (down -0.19%) was the only primary sector to close in the red. The Nasdaq +0.55%. Advanced Micro Devices Inc rose +3.62% (to US$112.56) and logged its fifth consecutive record closing high following a Bloomberg report that Nvidia Corp.’s (+0.33%) US$40B acquisition of Arm Ltd may get blocked by U.K. regulators. Bloomberg also reported that Apple Inc (up +1.26%) and Affirm Holding’s (+3.03%) PayBright are planning to launch a "buy now, pay later" program for Apple device purchases in Canada, allowing people to pay for iPhone, Mac, and iPad over 12 to 24 months. The small capitalisation Russell 2000 +0.37%. In merger and acquisition (M&A) news, PepsiCo Inc added +0.2% after the beverage and snacks company announced an agreement to sell Tropicana, Naked and other juice brands across North America for US$3.3B in cash to PAI Partners. The deal includes options to sell certain juice businesses in Europe. PepsiCo said it will retain a 39% interest in a newly formed joint venture, and will retain exclusive U.S. distribution rights of the brands.
