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· Investors fear another December sell-off if Trump lets tariffs take effect Dec. 15

Investors have been awaiting Dec. 15 as a pivot point for the stock market, with expectations the U.S. and China would agree to a first phase trade deal and stocks would then glide higher, capping a strong year with some late December gains.

But comments Tuesday from President Donald Trump that he could wait until after next year’s election for a deal added to a growing unease as trade talks showed no new signs of progress. Stocks were hit hard Tuesday, with the Dow down 278 points, or 1% to 27,503, on top of a 268-point drop Monday.

Dec. 15 is the date when tariffs on another $156 billion in Chinese goods would go into effect, and economists have viewed these tariffs as potentially the most damaging, since they directly target consumer goods.

“It seemed phase one might get done. In the last couple of days, that mindset has been challenged in the market, and that’s what you’re seeing. …Then you get the psychological impact of last year coming into people’s minds.,” Deming said. “You’re seeing some repositioning of exposure, and they’ve had a great year. Why not take some chips off the table?”

· U.S. stocks sold off for a third consecutive session on Tuesday after comments from President Donald Trump and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross threw cold water on hopes of a possible near-term respite from the market-bruising U.S.-China trade war.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 280.23 points, or 1.01%, to 27,502.81, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 20.67 points, or 0.66%, to 3,093.2 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped 47.34 points, or 0.55%, to 8,520.64.

The blue-chip Dow had its worst day since Oct. 8, and all three major stock indexes backed further away from last week’s record highs that were fueled by optimism that an interim deal between the United States and China was in the works.

That optimism was dampened as Trump suggested a deal might have to wait until after the 2020 election, and separately, Ross confirmed that new tariffs on Chinese imports would take effect on Dec. 15 as scheduled, unless substantial progress was made.

Those remarks, on the heels of France’s threatened retaliation over potential new U.S. duties on French products, itself a retaliation against a proposed French “digital tax,” suggested that America’s hydra-headed tariff war against its major trading partners would continue to dominate markets for the foreseeable future.

· Stocks in Asia traded lower Wednesday morning after U.S. President Donald Trump said overnight that he may delay a trade deal with China till after the 2020 U.S. presidential election.

Shares in Australia dropped in morning trade, with the S&P/ASX 200 declining more than 1.5% as shares of major miner BHP plunged beyond 2.5%. Australia’s GDP data for the third quarter is expected to be out around 8:30 a.m. HK/SIN on Wednesday.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 fell 1.03% in early trade as shares of index heavyweight Fast Retailing dropped more than 2.5%. The Topix index also declined 0.64%.

South Korea’s Kospi traded 0.84% lower, as shares of chipmaker SK Hynix fell 1.14% — following overnight declines of Nvidia, Micron and Advanced Micro Devices on Wall Street.

Overall, the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index traded 0.39% lower.

Fox News reported that the White House still plans on moving ahead with scheduled Dec. 15 tariffs on Chinese goods notwithstanding recent efforts at a “phase one” trade truce.

Reference: CNBC, Reuters