US equity markets settled narrowly mixed as investors continued to eye Thursday night’s AEST (10 June) inflation report - Dow eased -30-points or -0.09% . The broader S&P500 eked out a +0.02% gain, touching an intra-session peak (4,236.74) above its record close (4,232.60) set on 7 May. Consumer Discretionary (+0.96%) led six of the eleven primary sectors higher. Utilities (down -0.91%) was the worst performing primary sector. Tesla Inc erased earlier gains to settle -0.25% lower despite data from Beijing reporting an increase in deliveries. The electric car maker delivered 33,463 China-made vehicles in that market in May, a +29% jump from April. The data had also showed China’s overall new electric vehicle sales had surged 177% compared with a year ago. Southwest Airlines Co rose +1.06% after the carrier provided May metrics and a June outlook that reflected improving leisure passenger traffic and fares. Southwest also said it recently entered into an agreement with Boeing Co (up +0.04%) to increase its 2022 orders by 34 Boeing 737 MAX 7 planes, bringing the total to 234 firm orders. Airline stocks more broadly turned higher after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention eased travel recommendations for 61 countries, including Japan, France, South Africa, Canada, Spain and Italy. United Airlines Holdings Inc climbed +0.75% and Delta Air Lines Inc +2.08%. The Nasdaq rose +0.31%. The small capitalisation Russell 2000 rose +1.06%.