REFILE-US STOCKS-Wall Street seesaws amid heightened trade tensions

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* Pinterest plummets after 2019 forecast disappoints
* Trade war will only make us stronger - Chinese media
* Luckin Coffee surges in market debut
* Indexes down: Dow up 0.05%, S&P off 0.10%, Nasdaq drops
0.41%

By Amy Caren Daniel and Sruthi Shankar
May 17 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 was trading flat but was off
session lows on Friday as investors tracked trade headlines
after China took a hard stance on its tariff war with the United
States.
After falling as much as 0.76% earlier in the session, the
S&P 500 erased some losses, with traders pointing to media
reports that the United States was close to a deal to remove
tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Canada and Mexico.
However, all eyes were on the worsening rift in U.S.-China
trade talks, which has taken a toll on global financial markets.
The ruling Communist Party's People's Daily wrote the trade
war will only make China stronger and will never bring the
country to its knees. "Given the trend, people want to be optimistic and both
sides still want to get a deal and eventually might even get it
down, but the reality is that it is much more complicated than
they anticipated," said Craig Birk, chief investment officer at
Personal Capital.
Beijing's higher tariffs on $60 billion worth of U.S.
products will take effect on June 1, which could prompt
Washington to go ahead with tariffs on a further $300 billion
worth of Chinese goods. The two sides are expected to meet in China to resume talks
soon.
The S&P 500 has gained in the past three days after a huge
sell-off on Monday, as some upbeat earnings reports and positive
economic data allayed worries about the U.S. economy taking a
hit from the trade war.
However, uncertainty around trade led farm equipment maker
Deere & Co DE.N to cut its full-year forecast, sending its
shares down 5.4%.
The drop in shares of Deere as well as Caterpillar Inc
CAT.N and 3M Co MMM.N pressured the tariff-sensitive
industrial sector .SPLRCI , which was trading 0.3% lower.
Technology companies, including Apple Inc AAPL.O and
chipmakers, which rely on China for a large portion of their
revenue were also hit by trade fears.
Tech stocks .SPLRCT fell 0.3%, with Apple down 0.5% after
Nomura Instinet cut its price target on the stock, citing
headwinds from the tariff war.
Applied Materials Inc AMAT.O gained 4.7% after the chip
gear maker's upbeat third-quarter profit eased concerns about
waning chip demand. At 11:52 a.m. ET the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was
up 12.61 points, or 0.05%, at 25,875.29, the S&P 500 .SPX was
down 2.93 points, or 0.10%, at 2,873.39 and the Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC was down 32.55 points, or 0.41%, at 7,865.50.
Under Armour Inc UAA.N rose 6.6% after JP Morgan upgraded
the sports wear maker to "overweight" from "neutral".
Online scrapbook company Pinterest Inc PINS.N slumped
12.0% after the recent Wall Street debutant forecast 2019
revenue broadly in line with Wall Street targets. Luckin Coffee Inc's shares LK.O , the Chinese challenger to
Starbucks Corp SBUX.O , surged 35.8% in their market debut.
Declining issues outnumbered advancers for a 1.97-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and a 1.93-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 25 new 52-week highs and five new
lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 48 new highs and 76 new lows.