US STOCKS-Wall St headed lower on Sino-U.S. tensions; stimulus deal awaited

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* Intel drops on report of Apple prepping new Mac chips

* Oil cos slip tracking decline in crude prices

* Futures off: Dow 0.37%, S&P 500 0.37%, Nasdaq 0.04%

(Adds comment, updates prices)

By Shriya Ramakrishnan and Shreyashi Sanyal

Dec 7 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes were set to retreat from record levels on Monday as fresh Sino-U.S. tensions over Hong Kong dented sentiment, while investors also awaited concrete signs of progress on a coronavirus relief bill.

The MSCI world equity index .MIWD00000PUS dipped after Reuters reported Washington was preparing to impose sanctions on some Chinese officials over their alleged role in Beijing's disqualification of elected opposition legislators in Hong Kong. response, China said it firmly opposed U.S. interference in its domestic affairs.

Intel Corp INTC.O fell 1.6% premarket after Bloomberg reported Apple Inc AAPL.O is planning a series of new Mac processors for introduction as early as 2021 that are aimed at outperforming Intel's fastest processors. talks aimed at delivering fresh coronavirus aid gathered momentum in the U.S. Congress on Friday, as a bipartisan group of lawmakers worked to put the finishing touches on a new $908 billion bill. looks like markets are just taking a breather after a nice run last week and waiting for some clarity on the stimulus package," said Thomas Hayes, managing member at Great Hill Capital in New York.

"I think the bill is going to pass, but it will be smaller than $908 billion."

After months of deadlocked negotiations between Republicans and Democrats, pressure has mounted on policymakers to help people and businesses hit hard by the surging pandemic, especially after a set of weak labor market indicators.

The two parties also face a Dec. 11 deadline to approve an omnibus spending bill to prevent a government shutdown.

Shares of oil majors Chevron Corp (NYSE: CVX ) CVX.N , Exxon Mobil Corp (NYSE: XOM ) XOM.N and Occidental Petroleum Corp (NYSE: OXY ) OXY.N dropped between 1% and 2.3%, tracking a decline in crude prices.

Promising vaccine updates from major drugmakers have, however, raised investor hopes for an economic recovery next year and eased worries over a surge in U.S. infections, powering Wall Street's main indexes to record highs recently.

At 08:15 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis 1YMcv1 were down 112 points, or 0.37%, S&P 500 E-minis EScv1 were down 14 points, or 0.37%. Nasdaq 100 E-minis NQcv1 were down 5.5 points, or 0.04%.

Pfizer Inc (NYSE: PFE ) PFE.N rose 1% after a top Indian government health adviser said the drugmaker applied for emergency use authorization of its COVID-19 vaccine in the country. U.S. health advisory panel also meets on Thursday to discuss whether to recommend emergency use authorization of a the vaccine developed by Pfizer with German partner BioNTech SE 22UAy.DE .

Cisco Systems Inc CSCO.O edged 0.3% lower after the company agreed to buy London-based cloud communications software company IMImobile IMOI.L in a deal valued at about $730 million, including debt.