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* Trump says no deadline for China deal
* Main indexes set for worst day in nearly two months
* Trade-sensitive chip index hits over one-month low
* Indexes down: Dow 1.31%, S&P 1.11%, Nasdaq 1.17%
(Updates to open)
By Arjun Panchadar
Dec 3 (Reuters) - Wall Street sank more than 1% and the
benchmark S&P 500 hit a near one-month low on Tuesday as
comments from President Donald Trump stoked fears of a
significant delay in resolving a bruising trade dispute with
China.
Speaking to reporters in London, Trump raised the
possibility of the trade deal being delayed until after the U.S.
presidential elections in November 2020.
"I have no deadline, no. In some ways I think it's better to
wait until after the election with China," Trump said ahead of a
meeting of NATO leaders. Nine of the 11 major S&P 500 sectors were trading lower,
with tech heavyweights Apple Inc AAPL.O , Microsoft Corp
MSFT.O and Amazon.com Inc AMZN.O weighing the most.
The trade-sensitive Philadelphia Semiconductor index .SOX
dropped 2.2% to an over one-month low.
Tuesday's declines have pulled the main U.S. stock indexes
firmly away from record highs hit last month on hopes that the
world's top two economies will hammer out a "phase one" trade
deal soon.
"I suspect it is people wondering whether or not we're going
to get something accomplished," said Randy Frederick, vice
president of trading and derivatives for Charles Schwab in
Austin, Texas.
The latest fallout from the trade war on the domestic
economy was weak factory activity data on Monday.
At 10:00 a.m. ET the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was
down 364.25 points, or 1.31%, at 27,418.79, the S&P 500 .SPX
was down 34.65 points, or 1.11%, at 3,079.22 and the Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC was down 99.85 points, or 1.17%, at 8,468.14.
The CBOE Volatility index .VIX hit its highest since Oct.
In corporate news, shares of Audentes Therapeutics Inc
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 4% 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
13.4%. Declining issues outnumbered advancers for a 3.57-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and for a 2.96-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded one new 52-week high and three new
lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 14 new highs and 41 new lows.