(For a live blog on the U.S. stock market, click or
type LIVE/ in a news window)
* China condemns U.S. bill on Hong Kong rights
* Trade-sensitive technology, industrial shares drop
* Indexes fall: Dow 0.68%, S&P 0.61 Nasdaq 0.77
(Updates to late afternoon, adds commentary, New York dateline,
changes byline)
By Sinéad Carew
Nov 20 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes were lower on
Wednesday on concerns that a "phase one" trade deal between
Washington and Beijing may not be completed this year, and
minutes from the Federal Reserve's October policy meeting
offered little help.
The S&P 500 basically held steady after the minutes,
released at 1400 PM EST (1900 GMT) offered little guidance on
what would cause policymakers to change their outlook. At the
meeting, the Fed decided on the third interest rate cut of 2019
and signaled it was done with the easing.
Investors appeared to be more focused on a Reuters report
that completion of an initial U.S.-China trade deal could slide
into next year as Beijing presses for tariff rollbacks. It cited
trade experts and people close to the White House.
"We have a December 15 deadline Trump has set for tariffs to
go higher. The hope has been in the market that a phase 1 deal
would be done before that. It brings into the realm of
probability that those tariffs would come into effect," said
Scott Ladner, chief investment officer at Horizon Investments in
Charlotte.
The world's top two economies came tantalizingly close to a
deal in May after a year of tariffs on each other's goods,
before talks fell apart.
Earlier, a U.S. Senate measure aimed at protecting human
rights in Hong Kong amid prolonged protests had escalated
tensions with China and pressured the market.
At 2:14p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell
189.9 points, or 0.68%, to 27,744.12, the S&P 500 lost 19
points, or 0.61%, to 3,101.18 and the Nasdaq Composite
dropped 65.93 points, or 0.77%, to 8,504.73.
Before Wednesday's report, expectations of a trade deal,
coupled with a fairly strong third-quarter earnings season, had
helped Wall Street's main indexes scale record highs this month.
Market declines were broad-based, with nine of the 11 major
S&P 500 sectors lower. The trade-sensitive technology sector
was down 1%, the biggest drag on the benchmark index.
The Philadelphia Semiconductor index also slid 1%.
The interest-rate sensitive financial index was down
0.76% as safety buying pushed down the benchmark U.S. 10-year
Treasury yield further.
Reports from Target Corp and Lowe's Cos Inc
were bright spots on Wednesday, with their shares jumping 12.6%
and 4%, respectively, after the two companies raised their
profit forecasts.
But apparel retailer Urban Outfitters Inc was down
15.9% after missing quarterly sales estimates on weaker demand
for its namesake brand.
Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a
1.47-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.38-to-1 ratio favored decliners.
The S&P 500 posted 24 new 52-week highs and 4 new lows; the
Nasdaq Composite recorded 87 new highs and 79 new lows.
(Additional reporting by Arjun Panchadar and Agamoni Ghosh in
Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila and Nick Zieminski)