US equity markets gained ground, buoyed by comments from President Trump that sparked fresh hopes of a resolution to the trade to dispute with China - Dow up +124-points or +0.49%, paring an earlier +221-point gain. The broader S&P500 +0.22%, NASDAQ slipped -0.15%, with Facebook Inc down -2.8% and approaching a 19-month low. The social media giant has fallen -36% from it record closing of US$217.50 per share on 25 July. President Trump expressed guarded optimism over US-China trade ties, telling reporters that it may not be necessary to add new tariffs or raise existing ones on Chinese imports, and that he doesn’t want to “put China in a bad position.” However, US Vice President Mike Pence delivered a blunt speech at the Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) summit in Papua New Guinea on Saturday (17 November) in which he threw down the gauntlet to China on trade and security in the region. For the week, the S&P500 fell -1.6%, with Technology (down -2.5% for the week) - the biggest sector in the index by market capitalisation - the second-worst performing sector last week. A -5.4% decline in Apple Inc last week was the key drag. Both the Dow and Nasdaq fell -2.2% last week. It is a shorted trading week in the US, with Wall Street closed on Thursday night AEST (22 November ) for Thanksgiving Day followed by a shortened session on Friday night AEST (23 November).
