U.S. stocks fall on tech; oil rises

U.S. stocks reversed an early climb and ended lower Tuesday, as weakness in technology and financial shares weighed on benchmarks. Oil briefly rose above $75 a barrel for the first time since November 2014 before paring the gain.

All major equity benchmarks dropped, with the S&P 500 index stumbling after a Chinese court temporarily banned Micron Technology chip sales. The Nasdaq 100 index plunged on the news, ending down more than 1 percent. U.S. stock markets closed at 1 p.m. in New York, while the bond market shut at 2 p.m.

Meanwhile, the global trade spat appeared to be worsening, with President Donald Trump taking measures to prevent China Mobile from entering the U.S. market.

Telephone companies led an advance in the Stoxx Europe 600 index. Commodities climbed as metals recovered after losses that saw platinum drop to the lowest in nine years.

Mergers hit record $2.5 trillion

More than $2.5 trillion in mergers were announced during the first half of the year, as Silicon Valley helped drive a record in deal-making. Four of the 10 biggest deals were struck in part to fend off competition, as the value of acquisitions announced during the first six months of the year increased 61 percent from the same period in 2017, according to data compiled by Thomson Reuters. Mergers in 2018 are on pace to surpass $5 trillion, which would top 2015 as the largest yearly total on record.

Glencore plunges after subpoena

Glencore, a Switzerland-based mining and commodities trading giant, said Tuesday it received a subpoena from the U.S. Justice Department requesting documents in a money-laundering and corruption investigation. The subpoena is tied to Glencore’s dealings in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria and Venezuela from 2007 to the present, and it seeks material related to “compliance with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act” and with U.S. money-laundering rules, the company said. News that U.S. investigators were looking into Glencore’s businesses spooked investors, sending the company’s share prices down as much as 13 percent at one point Tuesday.

Court: Yelp posts can stay online

The California Supreme Court ruled Monday Yelp, the search and reviews site, did not need to remove negative comments posted by a user, in a case closely watched by the industry for its oneline free speech implications. In a 4-3 opinion, the court said federal law protected internet companies from liability for statements written by others. The decision to remove posts is at the company’s discretion, the court said. Forcing a site to remove user-generated posts “can impose substantial burdens” on the company.