US STOCKS-Wall St lower as economy worries persist

                                

                                
 * Economy concerns weigh on stocks
                                
 * Global equities head lower
                                
 * Natural resource stocks pressured
                                
 * Indexes down: Dow 1 pct, S&P 500 0.8 pct, Nasdaq 0.6 pct
                                
 * For up-to-the-minute market news see [STXNEWS/US]
  (Updates to open)
                                
 By Edward Krudy
                                
 NEW YORK, Aug 20 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks fell on Friday,
tracking global equity markets lower as fears persisted that
the economic recovery has hit a wall.
                                
 U.S. stocks tumbled to their lowest close in nearly a month
on Thursday after anemic labor market and regional
manufacturing reports indicated the economy was slowing.
                                
 "Basically growth is just not there," said Dave Rovelli, a
trader at Canaccord Adams in New York. "Until this
administration figures out how to get people hired, we are
going to be seeing a lot of these big up days, big down days,
and the market's going to be all over the place."
                                
 Natural resource stocks, including Exxon Mobil Corp <XOM.N>
and Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc <FCX.N>, came under
pressure again as U.S. crude oil futures <CLc1> fell 1.4
percent toward $73 per barrel and copper fell on renewed risk
aversion.
                                
 Freeport McMoRan dropped 1.4 percent to $71.04, while Exxon
Mobil, the largest stock in the S&P 500, dipped 0.7 percent to
$58.87.
                                
 The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> dropped 94.45
points, or 0.92 percent, to 10,176.76. The Standard & Poor's
500 Index <.SPX> lost 8.56 points, or 0.80 percent, to
1,067.07. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> fell 12.37 points,
or 0.57 percent, to 2,166.58.
                                
 Dell Inc <DELL.O> rose 0.6 percent to $12.10, while
Hewlett-Packard Co <HPQ.N>  dropped 2 percent to $39.93.
                                
 Even though both computer makers posted higher profits on
Thursday, doubts remain over the strength of the revival in
technology spending.
                                
 Shares of Marvell Technology Group Ltd <MRVL.O> jumped 10.3
percent to $16.45 a day after the chipmaker forecast strong
revenue growth in the third quarter. That helped buoy the PHLX
semiconductor index <.SOX> by 1.3 percent. [ID:nSGE67I0JC]
                                
 Elliot Spar, market strategist with New Jersey-based Stifel
Nicolaus & Co, pointed to the negative breadth in the stock
market. On the New York Stock Exchange, more than four stocks
fell for every one that rose in early trading.
                                
 "In order for any kind of bounce to sustain for more than
20 minutes, we are going to need a marked improvement in
breadth," he said.
                                
 The S&P 500 fell below below short-term support found at
1,070, last week's low. Below that level, support is around the
1,060-1,057 area, which includes the July 20 low and the 23.6
percent retracement of the 2010 high-to-low slide.
                                
 European stocks fell, breaching a key technical level as
weakness in Asian markets spread.
                                
 The European FTSEurofirst 300 <.FTEU3> fell 0.6 percent,
dropping below its 200-day and 50-day moving averages for the
first time in nearly a month. The S&P 500 closed below its
50-day average on Thursday.
                                
 Although volume has languished this week after the bulk of
U.S. companies finished reporting earnings, August options
expiration, set for later Friday, could increase liquidity and
contribute to volatility, analysts said.
  (Reporting by Edward Krudy; additional reporting by Rodrigo
Campos; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)