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* Wells Fargo rises on new CEO appointment
* Micron falls on weak Q1 profit outlook
* Indexes down: Dow 0.3%, S&P 500 0.5%, Nasdaq 1.1%
(Updates to close)
By Caroline Valetkevitch
NEW YORK, Sept 27 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks fell on Friday
after reports that the Trump administration was considering
delisting Chinese companies from U.S. stock exchanges, raising
worries about a further escalation in the U.S.-China trade war.
The move would be part of a broader effort to limit U.S.
investment in Chinese companies, sources told Reuters.
High-level trade talks between Washington and Beijing are
scheduled for Oct. 10-11, before the start of the U.S.
third-quarter earnings season.
"If our policies spark a major sell-off in Shanghai where
that creates problems for China, that could negatively impact
the trade negotiations, which are supposed to start on Oct. 10.
That is where the U.S.-based fear would come from," said Michael
O'Rourke, chief market strategist at JonesTrading in Greenwich,
Connecticut.
The tariff-sensitive Philadelphia semiconductor index .SOX
extended its decline after the reports and ended down 2.4% on
the day. The index was already under pressure from Micron
Technology Inc's MU.O , which tumbled after it forecast a
disappointing first-quarter profit. The S&P technology index .SPLRCT dropped 1.3%. U.S.-listed
shares of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd BABA.N , Baidu Inc BIDU.O
and JD.com Inc JD.O all slid.
Adding to the negative momentum in afternoon trade, the S&P
500 index briefly fell below its 50-day moving average.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 70.87 points,
or 0.26%, to 26,820.25, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 15.83 points, or
0.53%, to 2,961.79 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped
91.03 points, or 1.13%, to 7,939.63.
All three indexes ended lower for the week as well, with the
S&P 500 and Nasdaq registering their biggest weekly percentage
drops since August. The Cboe volatility index .VIX ended at a
three-week high.
Shares of Wells Fargo & Co WFC.N rose 3.8% and the stock
was the top gainer in the S&P 500 after the lender named banking
veteran Charles Scharf as chief executive officer. Data early in the day showed U.S. consumer spending barely
rose in August, suggesting that the economy's main growth engine
was slowing after accelerating sharply in the second quarter. Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a
1.38-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.94-to-1 ratio favored decliners.
The S&P 500 posted 11 new 52-week highs and 6 new lows; the
Nasdaq Composite recorded 29 new highs and 118 new lows.
Volume on U.S. exchanges was 6.68 billion shares, compared
to the 7.2 billion average for the full session over the last 20
trading days.