The daily business briefing: June 12, 2019

1. Trump vows to delay trade deal until China accepts old terms

President Trump on Tuesday said he would hold off on a trade deal with China until it accepts terms it had agreed to before backtracking. "We had a deal with China and unless they go back to that deal, I have no interest," Trump said. "China wants to make a deal very badly," Trump added. "It is me right now that is holding up the deal. And we're going to either do a great deal with China or we're not going to do a deal." He did not elaborate on the sticking points. A day earlier, Trump repeated a threat to raise tariffs on $300 billion worth of Chinese imports unless President Xi Jinping meets with him at the late-June G-20 summit in Japan.

MarketWatch

2. 10 states sue to stop T-Mobile, Sprint merger

Ten states filed a lawsuit Tuesday seeking to block the proposed $26.5 billion merger between mobile-phone carriers Sprint and T-Mobile. The states, which include New York and California, argue that the merger would hurt competition and result in higher cellphone bills. They say even slight rate hikes would hurt lower-income communities, and that folding together the two companies would lead to a "substantial loss" of jobs in the industry. The deal also faces possible opposition from regulators who might demand changes to the proposal before approving the merger. The companies did not comment immediately. Sprint shares dropped by 6.2 percent on Tuesday, while those of T-Mobile fell 1.4 percent.

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Engadget Reuters

3. Dassault Systemes to buy Medidata Solutions in $5.8 billion deal

France's Dassault Systemes, which makes industrial design software, on Wednesday announced that it had reached a $5.8 billion cash deal to buy U.S. technology firm Medidata Solutions. Dassault Systemes has been working on diversifying its tech businesses with purchases of Trace Software, Argosim, and other companies. The Medidata acquisition, Dassault's biggest yet, adds a firm focused on clinical trials into the mix. Medidata's wearable sensors help track patient health to determine who might respond best to specific drugs. Dassault Systemes will pay $92.25 per share for Medidata, a slight discount to its June 11 closing price of $94.75 but a 6.6 premium over its 50-day average price of $86.50.

Bloomberg Reuters

4. Stock futures edge down further after winning streak ends

U.S. stock index futures edged down early Wednesday ahead of the release of the latest inflation data, as U.S.-China trade tensions continued to worry investors. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 fell by 0.2 percent, while those of the Nasdaq dropped by 0.4 percent. The three main indexes gave back early gains on Tuesday, closing narrowly down after five straight days of gains that followed signals from the Federal Reserve that it might cut interest rates if necessary to keep the economy growing despite the impact of trade tensions. The decline came after President Trump renewed his threat to raise tariffs on $300 billion worth of Chinese goods, fueling fears of a prolonged trade war.

CNBC The Associated Press

5. Amazon to shut down its restaurant-food delivery service

Amazon announced Tuesday that it was shutting down its restaurant food delivery service, Amazon Restaurants. The online retail giant launched the service in Seattle four years ago and expanded it to nearly two dozen cities, offering food deliveries to Prime members. The company said the service would close on June 24. Amazon said a small number of employees would be affected by the decision, but many had already been shifted to new roles at the company. Amazon Restaurants failed to make headway against rivals including DoorDash, Grubhub, and Uber Eats. Grubhub shares gained 5 percent in pre-market trading following the news.

CNN