The benchmark US indices fell on the final trading day of April but still managed to record their first positive month in three, with merger and acquisition (M&A) activity and corporate earnings dominating the headlines - Dow down -148-points or -0.61%,, erasing an earlier gain of ~187-points and The broader S&P500 fell -0.82%, with Telecoms (down -1.2%) leading all eleven primary sectors lower. The decline for the telco sector followed news on Sunday that T-Mobile (down -6.22%) agreed to buy Sprint (-13.69%) for US$26.5B albeit a number of analysts are skeptical the deal will get federal approval, and shares of both companies fell sharply. The NASDAQ -0.75%, with Microsoft (down -2.4%) the key drag on the technology-centric index. For the month, the Dow and S&P500 rose +0.3% and Nasdaq +0.04% (to leave its year-to-date advance at 2.4%). Elsewhere in M&A news, Marathon Petroleum Corp (up +0.80%) confirmed that it plans to buy rival refiner Andeavor (+13%) in a deal valued at more than US$20B. Logistics company Prologis Inc (down -2.5%) has agreed to buy competitor DCT Industrial Trust Inc (up +11.6%) for US$8.4B including debt, as a surge in e-commerce ramps up demand for warehouses and distribution centers. US and Chinese officials will hold highly anticipated trade talks in China on Thursday (3 May) and Friday (4 May), with US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin saying he was “cautiously optimistic” about the meeting in which the US is "looking to have a very frank discussion on trade, on the issues of the trade imbalance.”
