(For a Reuters live blog on U.S., UK and European stock

markets, click LIVE/ or type LIVE/ in a news window.)

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Indexes down: Dow 0.46%, S&P 500 down 0.44%, Nasdaq down

0.56%

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WNS rises after Capgemini announces $3.3 bln buyout

(Updates with market open prices)

By Pranav Kashyap and Nikhil Sharma

July 7 (Reuters) - Wall Street's major indexes slipped

on Monday as heightened tariff tensions dampened risk sentiment,

while Tesla shares slid after CEO Elon Musk announced plans to

launch a political party.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the U.S. will make

several trade announcements in the next 48 hours, ahead of a

deadline on Wednesday to finalize trade pacts.

President Donald Trump said on Sunday that the country

was closer to inking several trade pacts and would notify other

countries of higher tariff rates by July 9. He added that those

duties are set to take effect on August 1.

In April, Trump unveiled a base tariff rate of 10% on most

countries and additional duties ranging up to 50%, subsequently

pushing the Nasdaq into a bear market.

Although he later delayed the effective date for all but 10%

until July 9. The new date offers countries a three-week window

for further negotiations.

Trump also threatened an extra 10% tariff on countries

aligning themselves with the "Anti-American policies" of the

BRICS group of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

At 10:22 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average

fell 207.65 points, or 0.46%, to 44,620.88, the S&P 500

lost 27.38 points, or 0.44%, to 6,251.97 and the Nasdaq

Composite lost 115.56 points, or 0.56%, to 20,485.13.

Nine of eleven major S&P sectors were trading in the

red, with consumer discretionary falling the most by

1%.

Electric vehicle maker Tesla dropped 6.8% - on

track for its worst day in over a month - after Musk announced

the formation of a U.S. political party named the "American

Party", marking a new escalation in his feud with Trump.

"Tesla investors are starting to vote their displeasure

with him getting back into politics. The potential for him to

start his own American party is just the exact opposite of what

Tesla investors want," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist

at B Riley Wealth.

Shares of WNS jumped 14.2% after the French IT

services firm Capgemini agreed to buy the outsourcing

firm for $3.3 billion in cash.

Monday's pullback also comes after the S&P 500

and the Nasdaq closed at record highs on Thursday

following a surprisingly strong jobs report that pointed to

resilience in the labor market.

The Dow was about 1% away from an all-time high.

Solid jobs data also backed the Federal Reserve's

cautious stance on future interest rate cuts.

Traders have fully priced out a July rate cut, with

September odds at 64.4%, according to CME Group's FedWatch tool.

Trump's inflation-causing tariff policies have further

complicated the Fed's path to lower rates. As a result, minutes

of its June meeting, scheduled for release on Wednesday, should

offer more clues on the monetary policy outlook.

Attention is also on a sweeping tax-cut and spending bill,

passed by House Republicans after markets closed on Thursday,

that is set to swell the national deficit by over $3 trillion in

the next decade.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 2.1-to-1

ratio on the NYSE, and by a 1.86-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 posted 21 new 52-week highs and three new

lows, while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 69 new highs and 32

new lows.