NEW YORK (AFP) - Wall Street was in the red for a second straight day on Wednesday (Nov 20) as the light at the end of the tunnel in the US-China trade war continued to dim.

Investors also digested the Federal Reserve's latest meeting minutes, which confirmed the US central bank is unlikely to cut interest rates again any time soon.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average and broader S&P 500 both fell 0.4 per cent to end the day at 27,821.09 and 3,108.37, respectively, in the second straight day of losses.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 0.5 per cent, closing at 8,526.73.

The three major indices all remain less than one percent below all-time highs recorded on Monday.

Stocks sank mid-afternoon following a Reuters report that the partial trade deal with China that President Donald Trump announced last month may not be completed before the end of this year.

Washington is poised to add tariffs on another US$160 billion (S$218 billion) in Chinese goods next month.

Trump told reporters again on Wednesday that talks with Beijing continued but that he felt no pressure to strike a bargain.

Hope for a successful truce had lifted Wall Street to fresh records this month.

"You can see that it has been paring some of these losses," Quincy Krosby, chief market strategist at Prudential Financial, told AFP.

"If we pare the losses, it suggests that traders and investors think there's still hope for a phase one deal."

Among individual companies, big-box retailer Target soared 14.3 per cent - its best day since Aug 21 - after reporting higher third-quarter earnings on a 4.5 per cent increase in comparable store sales.

Home-improvement retailer Lowe's also jumped 3.9 per cent as it also reported higher profits that it said reflected a "solid macroeconomic backdrop" that has boosted consumption.