Tempering recent optimism around trade was a Bloomberg report that said Chinese officials have doubts about whether it is possible to reach a comprehensive long-term trade deal with Washington and US President Donald Trump. However, Trump said the two countries would soon announce a new site where a "Phase One" trade deal will be signed after Chile cancelled a planned summit set for mid-November.

The trade-sensitive industrials sector shed 1.23%, while China exposed chipmakers also fell, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor index slipping 1.14%. However, corporate earnings were a bright spot. Apple Inc rose 2% after the iPhone maker forecast sales for the holiday shopping quarter ahead of expectations. Facebook Inc gained 2% after reporting an uptick in users in lucrative markets and its third straight rise in quarterly sales growth.

At 12:34 a.m. ET the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 221.13 points, or 0.81%, at 26,965.56, the S&P 500 was down 18.72 points, or 0.61%, at 3,028.05 and the Nasdaq Composite was down 34.41 points, or 0.41%, at 8,269.57. Data on Thursday showed a marginal rise in consumer spending in September, casting doubts on consumers' ability to continue driving the economy.

Copyright Reuters, 2019