(Reuters) - Wall Street’s main indexes fell on Monday as comments by President Donald Trump dampened optimism around a U.S.-China trade deal, while escalating violence in Hong Kong added to investor concerns.
Hopes of a “phase one” deal to end the damaging 16-month trade war and largely upbeat corporate earnings have sparked a rally that helped the three major stock indexes close at record highs on Friday.
But Trump said on Saturday that the United States would only make a deal if it was the “right deal” for America, adding that the talks had moved more slowly than he would have liked.
Nine of the 11 major S&P 500 sectors were lower, with the energy sector .SPNY the biggest decliner.
Technology shares .SPLRCT slipped 0.2% and were among the biggest drags on the benchmark index due to weakness in chip makers, which get a sizeable chunk of sales from China. The trade-sensitive industrials sector .SPLRCI also dropped 0.4%.
Continuing violence in Hong Kong hit sentiment after police shot and wounded a protester in the 24th straight week of pro-democracy unrest in the Chinese-ruled territory.
“You have China involved in two major variables now, which seems to be causing some nervousness,” said Andre Bakhos, managing director at New Vines Capital LLC in Bernardsville.
“During times like these, the markets are going to be volatile and erratic, especially after coming off all time highs.”
The third-quarter earnings season is drawing to a close on a positive note, with nearly three quarters of the 446 S&P 500 companies that have reported results so far topping profit estimates, according to Refinitiv data.
