US equity indexes fell this week as new restrictions on chip exports hit technology bulls and the start of trade tariff talks with Japan failed to outweigh Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's inflation concern.

* The S&P 500 closed at 5,282.64 on Thursday, versus 5,363.36 on Friday last week. The Nasdaq Composite stood at 16,286.45 compared with 16,724.46, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 39,142.11 end-of-play, versus 40,212.71. Equity and bond markets will be closed on April 18 for Good Friday.

* Nvidia (NVDA) said new US export restrictions require licenses for supplying H20 chips to China and other countries, prompting a planned $5.5 billion charge for inventory and related commitments, CFRA said. "We estimate that this development puts about 8%-10% of the company's revenue tied to China servers at risk." Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) also faces new curbs on exporting advanced microchips to China, a Reuters report cited a US Commerce Department spokesperson.

* Technology, home to semiconductor companies, was the worst-performing sector.

* Trump said Wednesday "big progress" was being made in tariff talks with Japan, without mentioning details of the discussions.

* "The negotiations will not be easy going forward, but President Trump has stated that he wants to give top priority to the talks with Japan," Shigeru Ishiba, prime minister of Japan, reportedly said Wednesday.

* Late Wednesday, Powell reiterated that the impact of US tariffs on inflation may not quickly unwind. "We may find ourselves in the challenging scenario in which our dual-mandate goals are in tension," Powell said, referring to the Fed's goals of gaining maximum employment and stable prices.

* On Thursday, Trump said that "Powell's termination cannot come fast enough" while saying the Fed chief was "too late" in cutting interest rates. He said Powell should "certainly" lower rates.