US STOCKS-Wall St headed lower on Sino-U.S. tensions; stimulus deal awaited

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* Intel drops on report of Apple prepping new Mac chips
* Oil cos slip tracking decline in crude prices
* Futures off: Dow 0.37%, S&P 500 0.37%, Nasdaq 0.04%

(Adds comment, updates prices)
By Shriya Ramakrishnan and Shreyashi Sanyal
Dec 7 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes were set to
retreat from record levels on Monday as fresh Sino-U.S. tensions
over Hong Kong dented sentiment, while investors also awaited
concrete signs of progress on a coronavirus relief bill.
The MSCI world equity index .MIWD00000PUS dipped after
Reuters reported Washington was preparing to impose sanctions on
some Chinese officials over their alleged role in Beijing's
disqualification of elected opposition legislators in Hong Kong.
In response, China said it firmly opposed U.S. interference
in its domestic affairs.
Intel Corp INTC.O fell 1.6% premarket after Bloomberg
reported Apple Inc AAPL.O is planning a series of new Mac
processors for introduction as early as 2021 that are aimed at
outperforming Intel's fastest processors. Meanwhile, talks aimed at delivering fresh coronavirus aid
gathered momentum in the U.S. Congress on Friday, as a
bipartisan group of lawmakers worked to put the finishing
touches on a new $908 billion bill. "It looks like markets are just taking a breather after a
nice run last week and waiting for some clarity on the stimulus
package," said Thomas Hayes, managing member at Great Hill
Capital in New York.
"I think the bill is going to pass, but it will be smaller
than $908 billion."
After months of deadlocked negotiations between Republicans
and Democrats, pressure has mounted on policymakers to help
people and businesses hit hard by the surging pandemic,
especially after a set of weak labor market indicators.
The two parties also face a Dec. 11 deadline to approve an
omnibus spending bill to prevent a government shutdown.
Shares of oil majors Chevron Corp CVX.N , Exxon Mobil Corp
XOM.N and Occidental Petroleum Corp OXY.N dropped between 1%
and 2.3%, tracking a decline in crude prices.
Promising vaccine updates from major drugmakers have,
however, raised investor hopes for an economic recovery next
year and eased worries over a surge in U.S. infections, powering
Wall Street's main indexes to record highs recently.
At 08:15 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis 1YMcv1 were down 112 points,
or 0.37%, S&P 500 E-minis EScv1 were down 14 points, or 0.37%.
Nasdaq 100 E-minis NQcv1 were down 5.5 points, or 0.04%.
Pfizer Inc PFE.N rose 1% after a top Indian government
health adviser said the drugmaker applied for emergency use
authorization of its COVID-19 vaccine in the country.
A U.S. health advisory panel also meets on Thursday to
discuss whether to recommend emergency use authorization of a
the vaccine developed by Pfizer with German partner BioNTech SE
22UAy.DE .
Cisco Systems Inc CSCO.O edged 0.3% lower after the
company agreed to buy London-based cloud communications software
company IMImobile IMOI.L in a deal valued at about $730
million, including debt.