US equity markets posted modest gains, with technology the leading performer as investors braced for earnings results from a host of major companies - Dow up +18-points or +0.07% Boeing Co fell -1.04% after ratings agency Fitch downgraded its outlook on the aircraft manufacturer to negative. The broader S&P500 +0.28%, NASDAQ +0.71%. Semiconductor equipment stocks rallied after Goldman Sachs upgraded the sector and a number of individual stocks (including Micron Technology Inc +3.67%, Applied Materials +6.11%). The Wall Street Journal reported after the market close that Apple Inc (up +2.29%) could be within a week of agreeing to a deal to buy Intel Corp's (+2.15%) modem-chip business. The deal has been rumoured since Apple gave up on its worldwide legal fight with modem maker Qualcomm Inc (+1.27%) on the same day that Intel - the only other Apple source for iPhone modem chips - announced that it would wind down its modem business. China yesterday (22 July) launched its new stockmarket for homegorwn technology companies, the Science and Technology Innovation Board or STAR market. The market initially comprises 25 listed companies and the first five trading days will be unfettered before a 20% cap on intra-day price rises and falls is introduced. Prices of the 25 companies listed on the STAR Market more than doubled, with one company, Anji Microelectronics Technology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., logging a 415% gain.