Morgans AM: Thursday 23 May 2019

Morgans Financial Limited

US markets weaker as ongoing trade concerns overshadowed the release of the Federal Reserve's latest meeting minutes - Dow down 101-points or -0.39% The S&P500 eased -0.28%, with the Energy sector (down -1.58%) the key drag on the broader index. NASDAQ -0.45%. Qualcomm slumped -10.9% after a US judge ruled the chipmaker violated antitrust law by unlawfully suppressing competition in the cellphone chip space. Apple Inc fell -2.05%, with UBS cutting their target price on the stock to US$225 from US$235 (but maintained a "buy" rating) after the investment bank published its annual survey of smartphone customers and said that it seems the amount of time consumers are waiting to replace smartphones will continue to grow longer. Tesla Inc fell -6.02% as Citigroup became the latest investment bank to issue their bear case on the electric vehicle maker. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told CNBC that a trip to Beijing to resume trade negotiations had not yet been scheduled. Separately, restrictions on Chinese telecom giant Huawei have led China to rethink its entire economic relationship with the US, according to a report from The South China Morning Post. The report said China is considering dropping purchases of natural gas from the US In 2017, China bought US$6.3B worth of US crude and liquefied natural gas (LNG). Elsewhere, President Trump .said he would not work with Democrats on an infrastructure bill if they kept investigating him. There were also reports of the US administration considering Huawei-like restrictions on Chinese video surveillance firm Hikvision.