US equity markets fell as investors weighed the latest US-China headlines - Dow fell -71-points or -0.26%, erasing an earlier gain of ~130-points. The broader S&P500 fell -0.53%, with Financials (up +0.24%) the only primary sector to advance as Wells Fargo and Company gained+3.7% after the US' fourth-largest bank announced that it has named Bank of New York Mellon Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Charles Scharf as its new CEO. Information Technology (down -1.26%) was the worst primary sector performer. The NASDAQ shed-1.13%. Micron Technology Inc tumbled -11.09% after the chipmaker reported its fiscal fourth quarter result after the close of last Thursday's (26 September) session and said that the US trade war with China is hurting the company’s business with Huawei, weighing on the company’s fourth-quarter results and threatening to harm its future financials. Equity markets initially rallied, buoyed by a CNBC report that top US and Chinese negotiators are set to meet 10-11 October in Washington, with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He to lead the delegation from Beijing. However, investor sentiment was subsequently rattled by a Bloomberg News report alleged that the Trump administration has been discussing ways to curb US portfolio inflows into China. The report weighed on China names, including Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (down -5.15%) and Baidu Inc (-3.67%). However, US Treasury spokeswoman Monica Crawley said that the Trump administration "is not contemplating blocking Chinese companies from listing shares on the US stock exchanges at this time" in an emailed statement on Saturday (28 September). On Sunday (29 September), China's ice Commerce Minister Wang Shouwen said that China’s top trade negotiator will lead an upcoming 13th round of trade talks between the US and China although he did not specify dates. For the week, the Dow lost -0.43%, S&P500 -1.01% and Nasdaq -2.19%.
