Tuesday, 1 August 2023: US equity markets logged modest gains to close out July amid optimism over corporate earnings

US equity markets logged modest gains to close out July amid optimism over corporate earnings and a resilient economy, and ahead of a busy week in terms of quarterly results and economic releases - Dow up +100-points or +0.28% at 35,559.53, the 30-stock index’s highest settlement since 9 February, 2022. The broader S&P500 edged +0.15% to 4,588.96, logging its highest close since 30 March, 2022 and settling ~4.3% below its record closing high of set on 3 January, 2022. Energy rallied +2.0% to lead eight of the eleven primary sectors higher. Health Care (down -0.79%) and Consumer Staples (-0.46%) sat at the foot of the primary sector leaderboard overnight The Nasdaq added +0.21%. The small capitalisation Russell 2000 rallied +1.09%.