US STOCKS-Trade tensions keep Wall Street under pressure

(For a live blog on the U.S. stock market, click LIVE/ or
type LIVE/ in a news window.)
* Pinterest plummets as 2019 forecast disappoints
* U.S. agrees to lift metal tariffs on Canada, Mexico
* Energy shares fall on weak oil prices
* Luckin Coffee surges in market debut
* Dow up 0.26%, S&P flat, Nasdaq down 0.19%

(Updates to early afternoon)
By Amy Caren Daniel and Sruthi Shankar
May 17 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks struggled for direction after
three days of gains on Friday, as investors weighed mixed
headlines on trade, with China's aggressive stance in its trade
war with the United States remaining an overhang.
After opening down 0.75%, the S&P 500 erased some losses
after media reports that the United States was close to a deal
to remove tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Canada and
Mexico. "That is a piece of positive news. The original tariffs were
on steel and aluminum and that is what started this whole trade
war," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at National
Securities in New York.
Upbeat economic data, which showed U.S. consumer sentiment
jumped to a 15-year high in early May, kept the market sentiment
buoyant. However, the focus remained on the growing U.S-China rift,
which has taken a toll on global financial markets.
The ruling Communist Party's People's Daily wrote on Friday
the trade war would only make China stronger and never bring the
country to its knees. 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. Uncertainty around trade led farm equipment maker Deere & Co
DE.N to cut its full-year forecast, sending its shares down
6.3%.
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 .
Energy stocks .SPNY declined 0.6%, the most among the
major S&P sectors, as oil prices fell. O/R
Applied Materials Inc AMAT.O gained 4.8% after the chip
gear maker's upbeat third-quarter profit eased concerns about
waning chip demand. At 13:17 ET the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was up
66.06 points, or 0.26%, at 25,928.74, the S&P 500 .SPX was up
1.99 points, or 0.07%, at 2,878.31 and the Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC was down 15.06 points, or 0.19%, at 7,882.99.
Under Armour Inc UAA.N rose 7.8% after JP Morgan upgraded
the sports wear maker to "overweight" from "neutral".
Online scrapbook company Pinterest Inc PINS.N slumped
10.8% 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 23.6% in their market debut.
Declining issues outnumbered advancers for a 1.84-to-1
ratio on the NYSE and a 1.73-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 25 new 52-week highs and five new
lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 49 new highs and 85 new lows.