The benchmark US equity indices clawed back losses to close flat after a choppy session following President Trump's decision to withdraw from a multilateral nuclear deal with Iran forged by former President Barack Obama ~3-years ago and impose sanctions - Dow edged +3-points higher to eke out a fourth consecutive session gain - the longest winning streak since mid-February. The broader S&P500 dipped -0.03%, with Financials (up +0.70%) - one of only four primary sectors to close higher - preventing a steeper decline. President Trump said that the US will be instituting the highest level of economic sanction", adding that "Any nation that helps Iran in its quest for nuclear weapons could also be strongly sanctioned by the United States." In a statement immediately following the president's announcement, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a prepared statement that "Sanctions will be reimposed subject to certain 90 day and 180 day wind-down periods. At the conclusion of the wind-down periods, the applicable sanctions will come back into full effect." The technology-centric NASDAQ inched +0.02% higher. The benchmark of small-capitalisation stocks, the Russell 2000 Index, ended the session up +0.5%, and less than 2% shy of its 23 January record, as smaller-cap stocks showed some resiliency to worries about global trade and a strengthening dollar. In merger and acquisition (M&A) news, there were reports that Comcast (down -5.5%) is planning an all-cash bid for most of 21-Century Fox's (-0.10%) assets if the US government approves AT&T's purchase of Time Warner. Elsewhere, the Whitehouse confirmed that China's top economic official (vice premier Liu He) will visit Washington next week to resume trade talks after discussions in Beijing last week failed to produce agreement.
