US STOCKS-Wall St ends flat in late flurry of buying

                                

                                
 * 3M, J&J shares dip after barely topping estimates
                                
 * Rising costs threaten U.S. corporate profits
                                
 * Consumer confidence hits 8-month high, home prices fall
                                
 * Indexes end flat
                                
 * For up-to-the-minute market news see [STXNEWS/US]
  (Updates with Yahoo results in paragraph 18)
                                
 By Angela Moon
                                
 NEW YORK, Jan 25 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks erased losses in a
late flurry of buying to end little changed on Tuesday as
overall optimism about earnings offset disappointing results
from blue chips 3M and Johnson & Johnson.
                                
 About 70 percent of S&P companies so far have beaten
estimates, but worries about inflation cutting into profits
have caused investors to jump on shares of companies that only
produce spectacular results.
                                
 Stocks were lower for most of Tuesday's trading. Shares of
3M Co <MMM.N> fell 2 percent to $88.50 after results barely
topped estimates and the manufacturer warned rising raw
material costs would pressure its bottom line. For details, see
[ID:nN21247179].
                                
 "Today the market is simply a little tired and overbought,"
said Bruce Bittles, chief investment strategist at Robert W.
Baird & Co in Nashville.
                                
 "But selling has been ineffective, including today; the
benefit of the doubt has to go to the bullish case."
                                
 The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> finished down 3.33
points, or 0.03 percent, at 11,977.19. The Standard & Poor's
500 Index <.SPX> was up 0.34 point, or 0.03 percent, at
1,291.18. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> was up 1.70
points, or 0.06 percent, at 2,719.25.
                                
 The S&P 500 index bounced off support at 1,280 in a sign of
the market's resilience despite some disappointing earnings.
                                
 Investors will focus on U.S. President Barack Obama's State
of the Union speech to Congress on Tuesday at 9 p.m. (0200 GMT
Wednesday). His remarks could have an impact on energy,
infrastructure and other market sectors. For a related factbox,
see [ID:nN25251175]
                                
 Trading volume was 7.97 billion shares on the New York
Stock Exchange, the American Stock Exchange and Nasdaq, down
from last year's estimated daily average of 8.47 billion
shares.
                                
 Not all blue chips disappointed investors. Verizon
Communications Inc <VZ.N> shares rose 1.6 percent to $35.79
after company said it added far more wireless subscribers than
expected in the quarter. [ID:nN25241355]
                                
 Travelers Companies Inc <TRV.N> rose 1.1 percent to $56.23
after it posted a higher-than-expected quarterly profit.
[ID:nSGE70N0D3].
                                
 The rising cost of commodities ranging from oil to food is
emerging as the main threat to an earnings recovery that has
helped push U.S. stocks to their highest levels since the 2008
financial crisis.
                                
 Major U.S. companies across a spectrum of industries, from
blue-chip manufacturing companies 3M Co and DuPont Co <DD.N>,
to tissues and diapers maker Kimberly-Clark Corp <KMB.N> and
fashion accessories house Coach <COH.N> cited rising costs as a
risk to growth this year. [ID:nN25166013]
                                
 "Stocks have rallied such that you need to have really
blowout numbers for shares to continue gaining," said Michael
Yoshikami, president and chief investment strategist at YCMNET
Advisors in Walnut Creek, California.
                                
 "I think we'll see a trend of strong earnings but stocks
that dip afterwards."
                                
 With reports in from 22 percent of S&P 500 companies,
earnings for the fourth quarter are now expected to have
increased 34.9 percent from a year earlier, according to
Thomson Reuters data. That forecast was up from 31.9 percent at
Jan. 1.
                                
 Healthcare company J&J <JNJ.N> said U.S. sales of consumer
products fell sharply and forecast 2011 earnings below
expectations, sending its shares down 1.8 percent to $61.08.
[ID:nN24208969].
                                
 After the bell, Yahoo Inc <YHOO.O> reported quarterly net
revenue that fell 4 percent and forecast a further slide this
quarter, sending its shares down 3 percent to $15.54 in
extended trade. [ID:nN25287956]
                                
 The latest economic data showed U.S. consumer confidence
rose in January to its highest level in eight months, but
single-family home prices fell for a fifth straight month in
November. [ID:nN25260229].
                                
 Advancing stocks outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by
1,603 to 1,379, while on the Nasdaq, decliners beat advancers
1,430 to 1,212.
 (Additional reporting by Rodrigo Campos; Editing by Kenneth
Barry)