US equity markets fell in the final hour of last Friday's (17 May) session following a CNBC report that trade talks between the US and China had stalled, with the next round of discussions between the two countries now “in flux” - Dow down -99-points or -0.38% The broader S&P500 -0.58%, NASDAQ -1.04%. Luckin Coffee Inc, China's second largest coffee chain and often referred to as the “Starbucks of China”, made it debut on the Nasdaq on Friday and closed 20% above its initial public offering (IPO) price (US$17 per share) at US$20.38 after touching an intra-session high of US$25.96. The People's Daily- considered by many to be the Chinese government's mouthpiece - ran an article saying that there was no reason to continue talks without a show of sincerity on the part of Washington. Separately, the spokesman for the Chinese commerce ministry, Gao Feng, said American officials had to address Beijing's three major concerns and accused the US of ratcheting up the pressure on the country, saying that it had "seriously hurt" talks. Gao was referring to the red lines set out by China's negotiators in recent days, including removing all import tariffs, that targets for purchases of US goods should be in-line with real demand in China and that the text of any deal must be "balanced" in order to ensure the "dignity" of both countries. For the week, the Dow fell -0.69% (its fourth straight weekly decline), S&P500 -0.76% and Nasdaq -1.27%.
