(Updates prices at 1430 GMT)

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US stock futures decline as focus shifts to spending bill

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Trade deals elusive ahead of higher tariffs on July 9

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Trading thinned by Wall Street, Treasuries holiday for

July 4

By Lawrence White

LONDON, July 4 (Reuters) - Stocks slipped on Friday as

U.S. President Donald Trump got his signature tax cut bill over

the line and attention turned to his July 9 deadline for

countries to secure trade deals with the world's biggest

economy.

The dollar also fell against major currencies, with U.S.

markets already shut for the holiday-shortened week, as traders

considered the impact of Trump's sweeping spending bill that is

expected to add an estimated $3.4 trillion to the national debt.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index fell 0.5%, with

banks, mining-related stocks and retailers among the top

laggards.

U.S. S&P 500 futures edged down 0.6%, following a

0.8% overnight advance for the cash index to an all-time closing

peak. Wall Street was closed on Friday for the Independence Day

holiday.

Trump said Washington would start sending letters to

countries on Friday specifying what tariff rates they would face

on exports to the United States, a clear shift from earlier

pledges to strike scores of individual deals before a July 9

deadline when tariffs could rise sharply.

Investors are "now just waiting for July 9", said Tony

Sycamore, an analyst at IG, with the market's lack of optimism

for trade deals responsible for some of the equity weakness in

export-reliant Asia, particularly Japan and South Korea.

At the same time, investors cheered a surprisingly robust

U.S. jobs report on Thursday, sending all three of the main U.S.

equity indexes climbing in a shortened session.

"The U.S. economy is holding together better than most

people expected, which suggests to me that markets can easily

continue to do better (from here)," Sycamore said.

Following Thursday's close, the House narrowly approved

Trump's signature, 869-page bill, which averts the near-term

prospect of a U.S. government default but adds trillions to the

national debt to fuel spending on border security and the

military.

TRADE THE KEY FOCUS IN ASIA

Trump said he expected "a couple" more trade agreements,

after announcing a deal with Vietnam on Wednesday to add to

framework agreements with China and Britain as the only

successes so far.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said earlier this week

that a deal with India was close. However, progress on

agreements with Japan and South Korea, once touted by the White

House as likely to be among the earliest to be announced,

appears to have broken down.

The U.S. dollar index had its worst first half since

1973 as Trump's chaotic roll-out of sweeping tariffs heightened

concerns about the U.S. economy and the safety of Treasuries,

but had rallied 0.4% on Thursday before retracing some of those

gains on Friday.

As of 1430 GMT it was down 0.1% at 96.94.

The euro added 0.2% to $1.1778, while sterling

held steady at $1.3662 as British assets steadied

following investor fright over the last two days at a tearful

appearance by Finance Minister Rachel Reeves in parliament on

Wednesday.

The U.S. Treasury bond market was closed on Friday for the

holiday, but 10-year yields rose 4.7 basis points

(bps) to 4.34%, while the 2-year yield jumped 9.3 bps

to 3.882%.

Gold firmed 0.4% to $3,336 per ounce, on track for a

weekly gain as investors again sought refuge in safe-haven

assets due to concerns over the U.S.'s fiscal position and

tariffs.

Brent crude futures fell 57 cents to $68.23 a

barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude dropped

66 cents to $66.34, as Iran reaffirmed its commitment to nuclear

non-proliferation.