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* Trump says no deadline for China deal
* Dow, S&P 500 set for worst day in nearly two months
* Trade-sensitive chip index hits over one-month low
* Indexes fall: Dow 1.37%, S&P 1.01%, Nasdaq 1.02%
(Updates to early afternoon)
By Arjun Panchadar
Dec 3 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes hovered near
one-month lows on Tuesday, as comments from President Donald
Trump and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross stoked fears of a
significant delay in resolving a trade dispute with China.
Trump, speaking to reporters in London, raised the
possibility of the trade deal being delayed until after the U.S.
presidential elections in November 2020. Ross told CNBC that planned tariffs on Chinese imports will
be imposed on Dec. 15 unless there is some real reason to
postpone, such as substantive progress in talks. "This is sort of a last-minute negotiation tactic," said
Robert Pavlik, chief investment strategist and senior portfolio
manager at SlateStone Wealth LLC in New York.
"If the Dec. 15 tariffs go into effect, then I think people
start thinking that this could have additional ramifications on
a 'phase-one' ever getting done."
Nine of the 11 major S&P 500 sectors were trading lower,
with tech heavyweights Apple Inc AAPL.O and Amazon.com Inc
AMZN.O weighing the most.
The trade-sensitive Philadelphia semiconductor index .SOX
dropped 2.24% to hit an over one-month low.
Tuesday's declines added to the pullback in the previous
session, signaling a rough start to the month. The indexes hit
record highs last week on hopes that the two sides will hammer
out a "phase one" deal soon.
The benchmark S&P 500 is still up about 23% this year,
helped by interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve, even as
conflicting headlines on trade have caused volatility.
The blue-chip Dow and the benchmark S&P 500 were on course
for their worst day in nearly two months.
At 12:55 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
was down 381.19 points, or 1.37%, at 27,401.85, and the S&P 500
.SPX was down 31.44 points, or 1.01%, at 3,082.43. The Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC was down 87.22 points, or 1.02%, at 8,480.77.
Audentes Therapeutics Inc's shares BOLD.O more than
doubled in value after Japan's Astellas Pharma Inc 4503.T said
it would buy the U.S. drugmaker for about $3 billion in cash.
AK Steel Holding Corp AKS.N rose 3.1% after miner
Cleveland Cliffs Inc CLF.N agreed to buy the steel maker for
about $1.1 billion in an all-stock deal. Shares of
Cleveland-Cliffs slumped 12.0%. Declining issues outnumbered advancers for a 2.10-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and a 1.95-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded one new 52-week high and five new
lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 23 new highs and 63 new lows.