US STOCKS-Wall Street finishes down as U.S.-China tensions heighten trade deal worries

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* TJX jumps on strong sales post lockdown
* Energy sector index drops
* Best Buy falls as same-store sales slide
* Indexes: Dow -0.41%, S&P 500 -0.78%, Nasdaq -0.97%

(Updates with market close)
By Noel Randewich
May 21 (Reuters) - Wall Street ended lower on Thursday, a
day after hitting two-month highs, on a fresh wave of China-U.S.
tensions that raised doubts about the trade deal reached early
this year between the world's two largest economies.
President Donald Trump said the United States would react
strongly if China imposes national security laws for Hong Kong
in response to last year's often violent pro-democracy protests.
Earlier, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo criticized Beijing's
handling of the coronavirus outbreak, while a Chinese official
said the country will not flinch from any escalation in
tensions. "It seems like China is going to be used as a punching bag
for the upcoming elections," said Bob Shea, CEO and co-chief
investment officer at TrimTabs Asset Management in New York.
"The White House has resolved to itself that it is more
effective to swing at China than to salvage what was going to
already be a watered-down Phase 1 trade deal. You don't score
any points for that," Shea said.
The S&P 500 has surged over 30% from its March low, but it
remains down about 13% from its Feb. 19 record high. Almost half
of S&P 500 stocks are down 20% or more since Feb. 19,
underscoring how uneven the recovery has been.
The Nasdaq is about 5% below its February record high,
fueled in recent weeks by gains in Microsoft MSFT.O ,
Amazon.com AMZN.O and other technology heavyweights that many
investors expect to emerge from the crisis stronger than smaller
rivals.
Amazon fell 2.05% on Thursday after touching a record
intraday high earlier in the day.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 0.41% to end at
24,474.12 points, while the S&P 500 .SPX lost 0.78% to
2,948.51. The Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped 0.97%, to
9,284.88.
The majority of the 11 S&P sector indexes declined, with
energy .SPNY , utilities .SPLRCU , materials .SPLRCM
consumer staples .SPLRCS , and technology .SPLRCT each down
1% or more.
Best Buy Co Inc BBY.N fell 4.4% after the electronics
retailer reported a 5.3% drop in quarterly same-store sales due
to the virus. L Brands Inc LB.N surged 18% despite posting
worse-than-expected quarterly results but said it will scale
down its struggling Victoria's Secret unit
Discount chain owner TJX TJX.N jumped nearly 7% to a more
than two-month high after it flagged strong sales at its stores
that have reopened after lockdowns. Volume on U.S. exchanges was 10.1 billion shares, compared
to the 11.3 billion average for the last 20 trading days.
Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a
1.00-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.40-to-1 ratio favored decliners.
The S&P 500 posted five new 52-week highs and no new lows;
the Nasdaq Composite recorded 53 new highs and nine new lows.