US STOCKS-Stocks pause on unsettled trade deal; earnings eyed

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* Mnuchin sees Dec tariffs taking effect if deal not signed
* China seeking more talks before signing deal
* Goldman, JPMorgan, Citigroup, Wells Fargo to report
Tuesday
* Harley-Davison halts production of e-bikes
* Indexes down: Dow 0.11%, S&P 500 0.14%, Nasdaq 0.10%

(Updates to market close)
By Stephen Culp
NEW YORK, Oct 14 (Reuters) - Wall Street edged lower on
Monday as uncertainties following recent U.S.-China trade
negotiations clouded sentiment and investors turned their focus
on the third-quarter earnings season, which begins in earnest on
Tuesday.
All three major U.S. stock averages closed in the red,
snapping a three-day winning streak during which the benchmark
S&P 500 .SPX gained 2.7%.
Hopes dimmed that recent trade negotiations between the
United States and China would bear fruit, as China indicated
further talks were needed and U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven
Mnuchin said the next round of tariffs on Chinese imports are on
track to go into effect on Dec. 15 if a deal has not been
reached by then. And while U.S. President Donald Trump hailed his phase 1 of
the U.S.-China trade deal as "by far, the biggest deal ever
made," no deal was committed to paper and most tariffs on
Chinese imports remain in effect. "There seems to be a softer commitment on the Chinese side
than was indicated on Friday," said Joseph Sroka, chief
investment officer at NovaPoint in Atlanta.
That said, an uneventful day in the markets was to be
expected, given the Columbus Day holiday.
"It's a lighter trading day as the bond market's closed,"
Sroka added. "It's the calm before the storm of earnings
announcements starting on Tuesday."
Third-quarter reporting season hits the ground running on
Tuesday, with major U.S. banks expected to report a 1.2% decline
in earnings, their first year-on-year drop in three years, due
in part to low interest rates and trade tensions. JPMorgan Chase & Co JPM.N , Goldman Sachs Group Inc GS.N ,
Citigroup Inc C.N and Wells Fargo and Co WFC.N are scheduled
to post third-quarter results.
Other big names reporting on Tuesday include Johnson &
Johnson JNJ.N and UnitedHealth Group UHC.N .
Analysts expect S&P 500 earnings to have contracted in the
third quarter by 3.2%, according to Refinitiv data, marking the
first decrease since the earnings recession that ended in 2016.
That is down from the 12.1% gain seen a year ago and the
0.8% advance forecast last quarter.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 29.23 points,
or 0.11%, to 26,787.36, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 4.09 points, or
0.14%, to 2,966.18 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped 8.39
points, or 0.1%, to 8,048.65.
Of the 11 major sectors in the S&P 500, all but real estate
.SPLRCR and financials .SPSY lost ground.
Harley-Davidson Inc HOG.N said it halted production of its
electric bikes after discovering a glitch in final quality
checks, and the motorcycle maker's stock rose 0.3%. Fastenal Co FAST.O slid 2.5% after two brokerages
downgraded the stock. The company had logged its best day in
three decades on Friday after reporting strong results.
Nike Inc NKE.N advanced 1.1% after Bank of America Merrill
Lynch upgraded the sportswear maker's stock to "neutral" from
"underperform.".
Construction and engineering company AECOM ACM.N gained
6.3% after agreeing to sell its management services unit to
private equity firms for about $2.4 billion.
Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a
1.32-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.57-to-1 ratio favored decliners.
The S&P 500 posted 2 new 52-week highs and 3 new lows; the
Nasdaq Composite recorded 24 new highs and 123 new lows.
Volume on U.S. exchanges was 4.73 billion shares, compared
with the 6.86 billion average over the last 20 trading days.