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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 0.35%, S&P 0.43%, Nasdaq 0.31%
(Updates to early afternoon)
By Medha Singh and Shivani Kumaresan
Oct 19 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes slipped on
Monday as losses in tech-related heavyweights Facebook and
Amazon 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.
"I do believe that both sides, even though two weeks before
election, can see the way to getting some money back into
unemployment programs," said Kim Forrest, Chief Investment
Officer, Bokeh Capital Partners, Pittsburgh.
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.
Amazon.com AMZN.O , Facebook Inc FB.O and Microsoft Corp
MSFT.O fell between 0.8% and 1%. They were among the biggest
drags on the S&P 500.
All major S&P sectors were trading lower, with the
communication services index .SPLRCL down about 1%.
"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.
At 12:40 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
was down 100.05 points, or 0.35%, at 28,506.26, the S&P 500
.SPX was down 15.01 points, or 0.43%, at 3,468.80. The Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC was down 36.10 points, or 0.31%, at 11,635.45.
Video-streaming service Netflix Inc NFLX.O was a bright
spot, rising 1.2% ahead of its results on Tuesday. 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 , whose quarterly
report is expected later in the day.
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 3.3%. ConocoPhillips COP.N slipped 0.1% 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 0.9%.
Chipmaker Microchip Technology Inc MCHP.O gained about
1.6% after Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock to "overweight".
Declining issues outnumbered advancers for a 1.01-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a
1.07-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 25 new 52-week highs and one new low,
while the Nasdaq recorded 94 new highs and 22 new lows.