By Yashaswini Swamynathan
(Reuters) - U.S. stocks lost ground on Monday as investors digested President Donald Trump's protectionist statements and sought safe-haven assets such as gold and U.S. Treasury bonds.
Trump, who met with a dozen prominent American manufacturers at the White House, said he would slash regulations and cut corporate taxes to boost the economy.
He, however, reinforced his stance of putting "America first" by warning manufacturers of penalties if they moved production outside the country.
The Trump trade, which led Wall Street to repeated highs since the election, has unraveled in recent weeks as investors fret about the potential impact of his isolationist stance on world trade and the lack of clarity on his policies.
"I think the market wants to see more definitive statements like how healthcare and tax reforms get played out, so there is no reason for it to be excited," said Robert Pavlik, chief market strategist at Boston Private Wealth.
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At 10:55 a.m. ET (1555 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 65.9 points, or 0.33 percent, at 19,761.35, the S&P 500 was down 9.93 points, or 0.43 percent, at 2,261.38 and the Nasdaq Composite was down 22.81 points, or 0.41 percent, at 5,532.52.
Trump has made it clear that he plans to hold talks with leaders of Canada and Mexico to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and intends to withdraw from the 12-nation trade pact of the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
The dollar hit a six-week low on Monday, while prices of safe-haven gold rose for the third straight day.
Oil prices fell about 1 percent on signs of strong U.S. drilling activity. The S&P energy index hit its lowest level since Nov. 30.
Eight other S&P sectors were also lower. Safe-haven stocks utilities and real-estate were the outliers.
Qualcomm dropped 13.4 percent to $54.44 after Apple filed a $1 billion lawsuit against the chip supplier on Friday. Qualcomm was the biggest drag on the S&P and the Nasdaq, while Apple's stock was flat.
Halliburton fell 3.4 percent after the world's No. 2 oilfield services provider reported a bigger loss in the latest quarter.
Shares of auto parts retailers Autozone, Advance Auto Parts, O'Reilly fell between 2.5 percent and 4.8 percent after the NY Post said Amazon.com may start selling auto parts. The online retailer's stock was up 0.1 percent.
Declining issues outnumbered advancers on the NYSE by 1,494 to 1,313. On the Nasdaq, 1,725 issues fell and 910 advanced.
The S&P 500 index showed 13 new 52-week highs and six new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 55 new highs and 28 new lows.
(Reporting by Yashaswini Swamynathan in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva)