Wall street slumps amid reports of Trump-Xi unlikely to meet before March 1

U.S. stocks extended losses on Thursday after a CNBC report said a meeting between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping was "highly unlikely" to take place by a key March deadline, set by the two countries for reaching a trade deal.

Wall Street was already off to a weak start as fears of a global slowdown resurfaced after the European Union cut its economic growth forecasts. At 11:45 a.m. ET the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 320.36 points, or 1.26 per cent, at 25,069.94, the S&P 500 was down 36.50 points, or 1.34 per cent, at 2,695.11 and the Nasdaq Composite was down 112.60 points, or 1.53 per cent, at 7,262.68.