(For a live blog on the U.S. stock market, click LIVE/ or
type LIVE/ in a news window.)
* China casts doubts about long-term trade deal
* Apple, Facebook gain on upbeat earnings
* Starbucks rises on same-store sales, revenue beat
* Indexes down: Dow 0.37%, S&P 0.31%, Nasdaq 0.21%
(Updates to open)
By Arjun Panchadar
Oct 31 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks dropped on Thursday as
uncertainty around a potential trade deal between United States
and China overshadowed strong earnings reports from Apple and
Facebook.
Chinese officials have doubts about whether it is possible
to reach a comprehensive long-term trade deal with Washington
and U.S. President Donald Trump, Bloomberg reported earlier in
the day. "This headline news (on trade) is giving investors a reason
to take some profits off the table," said Peter Cardillo, chief
market economist at Spartan Capital Securities in New York.
The tariff war between the world's two biggest economies has
disrupted supply chains and roiled financial markets for more
than a year.
The trade-sensitive industrials sector .SPLRCI dropped
0.86%. Chipmakers, which have a sizable exposure to China, also
fell, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor index .SOX slipping
1.44%.
However, corporate earnings were a bright spot. Apple Inc
AAPL.O rose 1.5% after the iPhone maker forecast sales for the
holiday shopping quarter ahead of expectations. Facebook Inc FB.O jumped 3% after reporting an uptick in
users in lucrative markets and its third straight rise in
quarterly sales growth. Nine of the 11 major S&P 500 sectors were trading lower. The
interest-rate sensitive financial sector .SPSY dropped 0.73%,
tracking a drop in U.S. Treasury yields.
The U.S. Federal Reserve lowered borrowing costs for the
third time this year on Wednesday and signalled there would be
no further cuts unless the economy takes a turn for the worse.
Investors will now eye the Labor Department's jobs data on
Friday, which will shed light on the strength of the U.S.
economy.
"In general, on the vigil of the key data of the month which
is the employment data tomorrow, investors tend to hold off any
bets until they digest the numbers," Cardillo said.
At 10:00 a.m. ET the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was
down 100.26 points, or 0.37%, at 27,086.43, the S&P 500 .SPX
was down 9.49 points, or 0.31%, at 3,037.28 and the Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC was down 17.70 points, or 0.21%, at 8,286.28.
Among other stocks, Starbucks Corp SBUX.O rose 0.7% as the
coffee chain topped quarterly same-store sales and revenue
estimates. Twitter Inc TWTR.N dropped 3% after the company said it
will ban political advertising on its platform next month.
Declining issues outnumbered advancers for a 1.91-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and for a 2.09-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 21 new 52-week highs and one new low,
while the Nasdaq recorded 42 new highs and 41 new lows.