Wall Street pushes lower in early trade, energy shares underperform

• Trade uncertainty weighs on the market sentiment on Thursday.
• Falling crude oil prices drag energy shares in the early trade.
• Defensive sectors post modest gains to reflect the sour mood.

Wall Street's main indexes started the day under pressure on Thursday amid resurfacing fears that the United States and China will not be able to make a long-term trade deal. As of writing, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.7% on the day while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite were erasing 0.3% and 0.25%, respectively.

Earlier in the day, citing sources familiar with the matter, Bloomberg reported that China was doubtful that they could have a long-term trade deal with the US as they were unwilling to compromise on big structural changes required by the US.

Although US President Trump said that they were on track to sign the phase-one of the trade deal with his Chinese counterpart Xi, investors continued to stay away from risk-sensitive assets.

Among the 11-major S&P 500 sectors, the Energy Index is down nearly 1.3% amid a 2% fall in crude oil prices. Additionally, the sharp drop witnessed in the Treasury bond yields seems to be weighing on the Financials Index, which was also down 1.3%. On the other hand, the defensive sectors, Utilities and Consumer Staples opened the day modestly higher to reflect the sour market mood.