US equity markets logged modest losses, settling well off their session lows as investors digested some mixed economic data - Dow eased +63-points or -0.18%, paring an earlier decline of as much as -274-points. The broader S&P500 slipped -0.16%. Materials (down -1.09%) and Energy (-1.06%) both fell over >1% to lead eight of the eleven primary sectors lower. Consumer Discretionary (up +0.44%), Real Estate (+0.16%) and Information Technology (+=0.06%) were the only primary sectors to advance. The Nasdaq edged +0.13% higher. The small capitalisation Russell 2000 dipped -0.07%. Tonight AEST marks “quadruple witching”, the simultaneous expiration of individual stock options, stock-index options, stock-index futures and single-stock futures, which can drive higher trading volume and volatility.