* Apple, tech stocks drop as U.S.-China trade tensions mount
* Companies move to suspend business with Huawei
* Sprint, T-Mobile shares rise after FCC head supports
merger
* Indexes down: Dow 0.64%, S&P 0.98%, Nasdaq 1.74%
(Updates to late afternoon, changes byline, adds NEW YORK to
dateline)
By April Joyner
NEW YORK, May 20 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks slid on Monday as
the White House's restrictions on Chinese telecom equipment
company Huawei Technologies Co Ltd HWT.UL weighed on the
technology sector and raised concerns that the move would
further inflame trade tensions between the United States and
China.
Since the White House added Huawei to a trade blacklist last
week, several companies have moved to suspend business with the
world's largest telecom equipment maker. Alphabet Inc's
GOOGL.O Google has moved to stop providing Huawei with access
to its proprietary apps and services, Reuters reported on
Sunday. Mobile phone parts producer Lumentum
Holdings Inc LITE.O also announced that it has discontinued
shipments to Huawei. Other chipmakers, including Intel Corp INTC.O , Qualcomm,
Xilinx Inc XLNX.O and Broadcom will not supply the Chinese
company until further notice, according to a Bloomberg report.
S&P 500 technology stocks .SPLRCT dropped 2.2%, the
largest percentage decline among the benchmark index's 11 major
sectors. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index .SOX , which
includes Huawei suppliers Qualcomm Inc QCOM.O , Micron
Technology Inc MU.O and Broadcom Inc AVGO.O , tumbled 4.6% to
touch its lowest level in more than two months.
Shares of Apple Inc AAPL.O slumped 3.8% to weigh most
heavily on Wall Street's major indexes. The iPhone maker's
shares were also pressured by a warning from HSBC that higher
prices for the company's products following the latest increases
in tariffs could have "dire consequences" on demand.
"The political risk now has become a business risk," said
Chad Morganlander, senior portfolio manager at Washington
Crossing Advisors in Florham Park, New Jersey. "This could
affect in a meaningful way earnings expectations for many tech
names."
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 165.87 points,
or 0.64%, to 25,598.13, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 28.13 points, or
0.98%, to 2,831.4 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped
135.89 points, or 1.74%, to 7,680.39.
After touching record highs at the beginning of May, Wall
Street's main indexes have succumbed to selling pressure on
mounting concerns about a prolonged U.S.-China trade war. The
S&P 500 is on track to post its worst monthly decline since the
December sell-off, trading nearly 4% off its all-time high.
Among gainers, shares of Sprint Corp S.N and T-Mobile US
Inc TMUS.O rose after Federal Communication Commission
Chairman Ajit Pai came out in favor of the merger of the two
telecom companies. Sprint and T-Mobile shares pared gains,
however, after Bloomberg reported that the U.S. Department of
Justice was leaning against approving the deal. Still, Sprint shares were last up 15.9% while T-Mobile
shares were 2.5% higher.
Dish Network Corp DISH.O shares declined 6.0% after the
company said it would buy broadcast satellite service assets
from EchoStar Corp in an $800 million deal, though the shares
pared losses in afternoon trading.
Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a
2.21-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 2.00-to-1 ratio favored decliners.
The S&P 500 posted 24 new 52-week highs and 11 new lows; the
Nasdaq Composite recorded 32 new highs and 140 new lows.