US equity markets settled mostly firmer after resuming trading following the Independence Day holiday long weekend, staging a sharp intra-day rebound - Dow fell -129-points or 0.42%, paring an earlier decline of more than >700-points. The broader S&P500 edged +0.16% higher, rebounding from an earlier slump of over >2%. Communication Services (up +2.66%) and Consumer Discretionary (+2.28%) both gained over >2%, while Information Technology rose +1.24% to be the only three primary sectors to advance. Energy dropped -4.01% to sit at the foot of the primary sector leaderboard, with Chevron Corp down -2%. Ford Motor Co fell -1.06% despite the automaker reporting a +31.5% year-on-year jump in second quarter sales (to 152,262 vehicles), bucking the -11% decline in overall industry sales, as Ford's U.S. market share improved to 12.9%. The Nasdaq rallied +1.75% after opening the session sharply lower, with Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc gaining +5.10%, Amazon.com Inc +3.60% and Google-parent Alphabet Inc +4.16%. The small capitalisation Russell 2000 rose +0.79%. There were reports that the Biden administration may roll back tariffs imposed on some Chinese goods, potentially helping to crimp inflation imported into the U.S.
