* Trump says "not yet ready" to make a deal with China
* Bond yields hit lowest since 2017
* Total System jumps after Global Payments' buyout offer
* Activision Blizzard gains on Goldman upgrade
* Dow down 0.36%, S&P 500 down 0.41%, Nasdaq down 0.11%
(Updates to mid-afternoon, changes byline)
By Chuck Mikolajczak
NEW YORK, May 28 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks gave up early gains
on Tuesday, with the Dow and S&P 500 moving into negative
territory, as the likelihood of a protracted trade war between
the United States and China kept investor enthusiasm for stocks
in check.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday said he was "not yet
ready" to make a deal with China, although he expected one could
be reached in the future. An expanding tariff battle between the
two sides has raised concerns the trade war would lead to a
global economic slowdown.
"The market is trying to keep this momentum going but there
is a lack of upside catalysts and there still are and I don't
know what is going to drive this higher," said Randy Frederick,
vice president of trading and derivatives for Charles Schwab in
Austin, Texas.
"Any time the buyers step in, the excitement just kind of
wears off and fizzles by the end of the day, and we're seeing
that again today."
The uncertainty has pushed investors toward safe-haven
assets, which resulted in benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yields
US10YT=RR dropping to their lowest since October 2017, while
the spread between the 10-year and 3-month bills US3MT=RR
narrowed to nearly a 12-year low. The majority of S&P sectors were in the red, with only
communication services .SPLRCL on the plus side.
The benchmark S&P 500 index .SPX as of Friday's close was
about 4% away from a record high reached on May 1, while the
blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial index .DJI declined for a fifth
straight week, its longest weekly losing streak in eight years.
The tech sector, which is down about 7% this month, also
gave up early gains and turned negative despite a boost from a
4.98% jump in Total System Services Inc TSS.N .
Global Payments Inc GPN.N said it would buy the payment
technology company for about $21.5 billion in stock. Its shares
declined 2.99%. In addition, Advanced Micro Devices AMD.O shares surged
10.45% after the company unveiled new chips to battle for market
shares with Intel INTC.O , which fell 2.50%.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI dropped 91.86
points, or 0.36%, to 25,493.83, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 11.53
points, or 0.41%, to 2,814.53 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC
declined 8.08 points, or 0.11%, to 7,628.93.
Among other stocks, Activision Blizzard Inc ATVI.O rose
2.53% after Goldman Sachs upgraded its shares to "buy" and said
the videogame publisher would benefit from its recent releases.
FedEx Corp FDX.N slipped 0.59% after Huawei Technologies
Co Ltd HWT.UL said it is reviewing its relationship with the
U.S. package delivery company, after it diverted two parcels
destined for Huawei addresses in Asia to the United States.
Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a
1.46-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.35-to-1 ratio favored decliners.
The S&P 500 sported 17 new 52-week highs and 14 new lows;
the Nasdaq Composite had 52 new highs and 103 new lows.