The Market In 5 Minutes: Trade Tensions Intensify, ZTE Rebuked, Housing Starts And More

IN THE NEWS

Trade tensions between the world’s two biggest economies intensified, with China vowing to retaliate "forcefully" against President Donald Trump’s threatened tariffs on another $200 billion in Chinese imports: Link $

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has far more on his plate than abandoned Iran deals and tentative truces with North Korea: Link

Shares of ZTE Corp plummeted on Tuesday after the U.S. Senate’s passage of a defense bill set up a potential battle with the White House over whether the Chinese telecoms firm can resume business with its U.S. suppliers: Link

Global oil demand is set to stay strong in the second half of 2018, an OPEC technical panel forecast this week, suggesting the market could absorb extra production from the group: Link

Wells Fargo & Co. WFC is expected to announce a restructuring of its wealth management business, according to people familiar with the matter, as it grapples with government investigations tied to client referrals and other related matters: Link $

ECONOMIC DATA

• US Housing Starts for May 1.35M vs 1.31M Est; Prior 1.29M. Housing Starts (MoM) for May 5.00% vs 1.40% Est; Prior -3.70%
• Redbook Reports US Retail Sales During First 2 Weeks Of Jun. Unchanged MoM, Up 4.5% YoY
• The Treasury is set to auction 4-and 52-week bills at 11:30 a.m. ET.

ANALYST RATINGS

• Deutsche Bank upgrades Verizon VZ from Hold to Buy
• Jefferies upgrades Helmerich & Payne HP from Hold to Buy
• Cowen downgrades Fortinet FTNT from Outperform to Market Perform
• B. Riley downgrades Deciphera Pharmaceuticals DCPH from Buy to Neutral

This is a tool used by the Benzinga News Desk each trading day — it's a look at everything happening in the market, in five minutes. To get the full version of this note every morning, click here.