(Repeats from Friday, no changes to text) ** S&P 500 taps the brakes after four straight weeksof gains. Finishes essentially neutral (down 0.07 pct) asmarkets chug deluge of earnings reports ** SPX breaks 11-day streak of alternating up and down dayswith slight rise on Friday, but continues to struggle with majorlong-term resistance lines ; tiring internals heighten downdraft risk ** Majority of sectors finish red, though tech remains inhigh gear, while energy clearly stuck in reverse; investorsshift lanes to growth over value ** Tech lifts 1.5 pct. Blowout results fromAlphabet and Facebook , along with Apple's relief rally help drive Nasdaq 100 index to more than16-year high ** Health care edges up 0.3 pct. Nasdaq Biotechindex adds another 3 pct, cruises to its best month inthree years ** Energy slumps 2 pct. Oil price rout deflatesprofits for Exxon Mobil and Chevron ** Consumer Discretionary marginally lower. Ford skids as results indicate auto sales peak,while Amazon.com continues to accelerate ** Meanwhile, Molson Coors swerves amid high dramaover the biggest beer deal ever ** And Verizon seeks to nurse Yahoo's hangover ** One-year sector performance for the S&P 500 : http://reut.rs/1k6B7QQ
UPDATE 3-Asahi to buy East European beer brands from AB InBev for $7.8 bln
* Asahi to buy brands for $7.8 billion * Expects to close deal in first half of 2017 * Asahi shares close down 4.6 pct on funding questions (Adds valuation estimates, background) By Thomas Wilson and Martinne Geller TOKYO/LONDON, Dec 13 (Reuters) - Asahi Group Holdings
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