US equity markets settled with modest gains after a late session pullback and amid light volume trading. Investors continue to assess the outlook for US/China trade relations, while fresh tensions in the Middle East saw a fresh rally on crude markets that helped lift US 10-year Treasury yields back above >3% - Dow up +68-points or +0.27% to log an eighth consecutive rise - its longest winning streak since September last year. The broader S&P500 rose +0.09% (off an session high that saw the index up as much as +0.5%), with Healthcare (up +0.65%), Energy (+0.63%) and Materials (+0.39%) the leading primary sector performers. Trading volumes were 17% below the 30-day average. The technology-centric NASDAQ edged +0.11% higher, paring an earlier +0.8% gain. Tesla Inc fell -3% following reports that senior executive Matthew Schwall, who was the company's main technical contact with US safety regulators, has joined rival company Waymo LLC. The departure follows news that Tesla’s top engineer overseeing auto development was taking a sabbatical. The small capitalisation Russell 2000 index fell -0.4% after coming within touching distance of an intra-day record high (1,615.52) set back on 24 January. President Trump offered an olive branch after tweeting that he was working with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping to save telecoms company ZTE, which last week said that it would cease operations after it was hit by US government sanctions. Chinese Vice Premier Liu He will attend the talks in Washington from May 15 to May 19. China Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said on Monday (14 May) in a regular press briefing that China is willing to work with the United States for a positive outcome in trade negotiations this week. Looking ahead, Home Depot reports their first quarter result tonight AEST, while on the economic data front US retail sales data for April is also due to be released (with consensus expectations for a +0.4% rise, which would be the best reading since November last year).
