US STOCKS-Wall St slips as losses in communication services shares weigh

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* Pelosi sets Tuesday deadline for COVID-19 aid deal
* Halliburton posts fourth straight quarterly loss
* IBM set to report results after markets close
* Indexes down: Dow 0.16%, S&P 0.16%, Nasdaq flat

(Adds comment, details; updates prices)
By Medha Singh and Shivani Kumaresan
Oct 19 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 edged lower in choppy trading
on Monday as losses in shares of communication services
companies eclipsed optimism on a coronavirus relief deal before
the Nov. 3 presidential election.
U.S. stocks had opened higher after House Speaker Nancy
Pelosi said she was optimistic legislation could be pushed
through before the election, but acknowledged an agreement would
have to come by Tuesday for that to happen. Last week the White House proposed a $1.8 trillion stimulus
package to help Americans struggling with the economic ravages
of the coronavirus pandemic, but Pelosi said the offer fell
short in a range of areas and stuck to her demand for $2.2
trillion in aid.
"It's just the general volatility here. I wouldn't be
surprised to see this bouncing around all day," said Tony
Bedikian, head of global markets at Citizens Bank.
"The headlines around stimulus talks are going to be the
primary driver for markets this week."
Wall Street's fear gauge .VIX rose for a sixth straight
session as election campaigns kicked into high gear, with early
voting starting in Florida, a battleground state that could
decide the presidential election.
President Donald Trump and his Democratic challenger Joe
Biden will debate for a final time on Thursday.
The communication services index .SPLRCL dropped about 1%,
with all major S&P sectors trading lower.
At 11:16 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
was down 44.35 points, or 0.16%, at 28,561.96, the S&P 500
.SPX was down 5.65 points, or 0.16%, at 3,478.16. The Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC was up 1.41 points, or 0.01%, at 11,672.97.
After the financial sector set a mixed tone to the start of
the third-quarter earnings season, investors will look to
results from about 91 S&P 500 companies this week including
International Business Machines Corp IBM.N and Netflix Inc
NFLX.O .
Oilfield services provider Halliburton Co HAL.N posted a
fourth consecutive quarterly loss as this year's slump in oil
prices due to the COVID-19 pandemic hit demand for its services.
Its shares, however, rose about 1%. ConocoPhillips COP.N slipped 1.8% as it agreed to buy U.S.
shale oil producer Concho Resources Inc CXO.N for $9.7 billion
as the energy sector continued to consolidate. Concho fell 1.1%.
Chipmaker Microchip Technology Inc MCHP.O gained about
2.6% after Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock to "overweight".
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.43-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and by a 1.37-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 25 new 52-week highs and one new low,
while the Nasdaq recorded 81 new highs and 17 new lows.