(The Closing Bell will be updated sometime after 4:00 PM CDST to include the latest updates from IBD and Bloomberg Evening Briefing.)
FYI: U.S. stocks inched lower Wednesday, dragged down by makers of semiconductors after a U.S. federal judge ruled that chip maker Qualcomm illegally suppressed competition for cellphone chips.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 100 points, or 0.39%, to 25776. The S&P 500 declined less than 0.28%. The broad equity gauge entered the day up 14% for the year and 2.8% below its April 30 record.
The tech-laden Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.45%.
Semiconductor stocks fell after the ruling that Qualcomm used its dominant position to exact excessive licensing fees, a decision that could shake up the broader smartphone industry. Qualcomm fell 11%, while other chip stocks also dropped.
The declines followed a Tuesday rebound for chip stocks after the White House granted temporary exemptions to an export blacklist against Huawei Technologies, potentially easing U.S.-China tensions as the two sides seek to get trade talks back on track. Some analysts expect trade-related swings to continue until investors get more clarity on escalating tariff threats by both sides.
Investors were weighing minutes from the Federal Reserve’s latest meeting showing that the central bank is comfortable leaving interest rates where they are. The minutes showed several Fed officials raised concerns about what might happen if inflation continues holding at lower levels, a potentially encouraging sign for those who expect the Fed to lower rates by the end of the year.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note fell to 2.391% Wednesday, according to Tradeweb, from 2.428% a day earlier. Bond yields fall as prices rise.
Among individual stocks Wednesday, Target shares advanced 9.6% after the retailer posted a larger-than-expected rise in same-store sales for the latest quarter.
Shares of Lowe’s slid 13% following downbeat full-year earnings targets from the home-improvement retailer. And Nordstrom declined 9.8% after the retailer posted a drop in net sales.
Elsewhere, the British pound dropped further against the dollar after closing at a four-month low on Tuesday as investors weighed the latest push by U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May to gain parliamentary support for her Brexit deal.
The Stoxx Europe 600 fell 0.1%.
Earlier, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng and Korea’s Kospi both gained 0.2%, Japan’s Nikkei edged up 0.1% and the Shanghai Composite dropped 0.5%.
Shares in video-surveillance company Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology fell 5.5% Wednesday on reports that it could be the latest company to be blacklisted by the U.S.
Regards,
Ted
Bloomberg Evening Briefing:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-05-22/your-evening-briefingMarketWatch:
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-stock-futures-edge-lower-as-wall-street-watches-for-fed-minutes-2019-05-22/printWSJ:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/global-stocks-waver-after-retail-sales-decline-11558512562Bloomberg:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-05-21/asian-stocks-point-higher-after-u-s-shares-gain-markets-wrap?srnd=premiumIBD:
https://www.investors.com/market-trend/stock-market-today/dow-jones-nasdaq-cut-losses-5-growth-stocks-stomp-higher/CNBC:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/22/stock-market-dow-in-focus-amid-ongoing-trade-war-anxiety.htmlReuters:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-stocks/wall-st-slips-as-trade-tensions-mount-fed-minutes-awaited-idUSKCN1SS1BYU.K:
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-stocks/brexit-worries-hit-domestic-stocks-but-sterling-slide-lifts-ftse-100-idUKKCN1SS0PIEurope:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-europe-stocks/trade-war-fears-hamper-european-stocks-weak-pound-buoys-ftse-idUSKCN1SS0NUAsia:
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/asian-markets-cautious-amid-lingering-trade-tensions-2019-05-21/printBonds:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/22/us-bonds-federal-reserve-meeting-minutes-in-focus-for-investors.htmlCurrencies:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/22/forex-market-huawei-eu-elections-in-focus.htmlOil:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/22/oil-market-middle-east-tensions-opec-supply-cut-in-focus.htmlGold
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/22/gold-market-us-dollar-fed-minutes-in-focus.htmlWSJ: Markets At A Glance:
https://markets.wsj.com/usMajor ETFs % Change:
https://www.barchart.com/etfs-funds/etf-monitorSPDR's Sector Tracker:
http://www.sectorspdr.com/sectorspdr/tools/sector-trackerSPDR's Bloomberg Sector Performance Pie Chart:
https://www.bloomberg.com/markets/sectorsCurrent Futures:
https://finviz.com/futures.ashx 
