US STOCKS-Trade tensions keep Wall St lower ahead of Fed minutes

(For a live blog on the U.S. stock market, click LIVE/ or
type LIVE/ in a news window)
* Qualcomm slumps after judge rules against co's practices
* Lowe's, Nordstrom fall on disappointing FY forecasts
* Banks trade lower ahead of Fed minutes
* Indexes off: Dow 0.40%, S&P 0.34%, Nasdaq 0.45%

(Updates to early afternoon)
By Shreyashi Sanyal and Sruthi Shankar
May 22 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks dipped on Wednesday, as
reports that Washington could impose restrictions on another
Chinese technology company fanned trade tensions, while
investors awaited the release of minutes from the Federal
Reserve's latest policy meeting.
Fears that tit-for-tat tariffs and other retaliatory actions
by the United States and China will hit global growth have kept
investors on edge, putting the S&P 500 on track to post its
biggest monthly decline since the December sell-off.
Media reports on Wednesday said the Trump administration was
considering sanctions on video surveillance firm Hikvision, the
second major Chinese technology company facing U.S. curbs.
Washington last week added China's telecoms equipment maker
Huawei Technologies Co Ltd HWT.UL to its trade blacklist, but
temporarily relaxed the curbs, sparking a market rebound on
Tuesday.
"It doesn't sound like talks are going to restart anytime
soon, so we'll have to wait until the G20 summit in late June,"
said Ryan Nauman, market strategist at Informa Financial
Intelligence in Zephyr Cove, Nevada.
"It is hard to trade when there is so much uncertainty and
confusion out there."
Also weighing on the markets was Qualcomm Inc's QCOM.O
12.1% plunge, the biggest decliner on the S&P 500.
A federal judge ruled that the chipmaker illegally
suppressed competition in the market for smartphone chips by
threatening to cut off supplies and extracting excessive
licensing fees. A near 2% fall in Apple Inc, along with chipmakers, dragged
down the S&P technology index .SPLRCT 0.45%.
The Fed is expected to release at 2 p.m. ET (1800 GMT),
minutes from its two-day policy meeting in late April when it
held interest rates steady.
New York Fed President John Williams said at a press
briefing that there is not currently a strong argument for
changing rates, including as a response to low inflation
readings that may due to temporary factors. The interest rate-sensitive banks .SPXBK were down 0.7
ahead of the report.
At 12:55 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
was down 102.38 points, or 0.40%, at 25,774.95. The S&P 500
.SPX was down 9.78 points, or 0.34%, at 2,854.58 and the
Nasdaq Composite .IXIC was down 34.65 points, or 0.45%, at
7,751.07.
Retailers wrapped up the first-quarter earnings season on a
downbeat note, with Lowe's Cos Inc LOW.N falling 11.7% after
the home improvement chain cut its full-year profit forecast.
Lowe's was the biggest drag on the consumer discretionary sector
.SPLRCD , down 0.88%.
Nordstrom Inc JWN.N declined 9.6% after the department
store operator reduced its full-year sales and profit forecasts.
Retailer Target Corp TGT.N jumped 9.2%, the most among S&P
500 companies, after its quarterly same-store sales and profit
beat estimates. Declining issues outnumbered advancers for a 1.80-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and a 2.09-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 20 new 52-week highs and eight new
lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 37 new highs and 94 new lows.