* 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 0.33%, S&P 0.67%, Nasdaq 1.46%
(Updates to market close)
By April Joyner
NEW YORK, May 20 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks slid on Monday as
the White House's restrictions on Chinese telecoms equipment
maker 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 suspended 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
Inc QCOM.O , Xilinx Inc XLNX.O and Broadcom Inc AVGO.O ,
will not supply the Chinese company until further notice,
according to a Bloomberg report.
S&P 500 technology stocks .SPLRCT dropped 1.75%, the
largest percentage decline among the benchmark index's 11 major
sectors. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index .SOX , which
includes Huawei suppliers Qualcomm, Broadcom and Micron
Technology Inc MU.O , tumbled 4% to hit its lowest level in
more than two months.
Shares of Apple Inc AAPL.O slumped 3.1%, making them the
biggest drag on Wall Street's major indexes. The iPhone maker's
shares were also pressured after HSBC warned 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 84.1 points, or
0.33%, to 25,679.9, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 19.3 points, or
0.67%, to 2,840.23, and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped
113.91 points, or 1.46%, to 7,702.38.
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% below its all-time high.
"The further the trade war goes, the more escalation keeps
happening," said Matt Watson, portfolio manager at James
Investment Research in Alpha, Ohio. "We're not going in and
trying to do a lot of buying at this point."
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 pared gains, however,
after Bloomberg reported that the U.S. Department of Justice was
leaning against approving the deal. Still, Sprint shares ended 18.8% higher while T-Mobile
shares rose 3.9%.
Dish Network Corp DISH.O shares declined 5.9% 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
2.03-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.81-to-1 ratio favored decliners.
The S&P 500 posted 25 new 52-week highs and 11 new lows; the
Nasdaq Composite recorded 35 new highs and 152 new lows.
Volume on U.S. exchanges was 6.4 billion shares, compared to
the 7.01 billion average for the full session over the last 20
trading days.