* Positive US housing data offsets consumer spending woes
* European stocks lower on profit-taking in banks
* US Treasuries dip as housing data curbs safe-haven appeal
By Walter Brandimarte
NEW YORK, Aug 4 (Reuters) - Global stocks were subdued on
Tuesday and oil prices were little changed as investors turned
more cautious a day after risk appetite rose on renewed
optimism about an economic recovery.
Wall Street, however, managed a modest gain on
better-than-expected data on home sales, though technology,
materials and energy shares sold off on profit-taking.
The rise in stocks pushed down the safe-haven appeal of
Treasuries, sending prices of U.S. government bonds lower.
The data on pending sales of previously owned U.S. homes,
based on contracts signed in June, offset news that U.S.
consumers suffered their biggest drop in incomes in four and a
half year. Consumer spending, however, rose slightly more than
expected in June, pushed up by higher gasoline prices.
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The National Association of Realtors said its pending home
sales index rose 3.6 percent in June from an upwardly revised
0.8 percent gain in May.
"For those that look at housing as the catalyst from which
we have to emerge, this is going to be considered a positive,"
said Marc Pado, U.S. market strategist at Cantor Fitzgerald &
Co in San Francisco.
The Dow Jones industrial average <> was up 17.76
points, or 0.19 percent, at 9,304.32. The Standard & Poor's 500
Index <.SPX> was up 2.67 points, or 0.27 percent, at 1,005.30.
The Nasdaq Composite Index <> was up 2.76 points, or 0.14
percent, at 2,011.37.
The Dow Jones U.S. Home Construction index <.DJUSHB> rose
2.4 percent.
Energy shares were among the top drags as U.S. front-month
crude seesawed.
Oil majors Chevron Corp <CVX.N> and Exxon Mobil Corp
<XOM.N> fell, with Chevron down 0.4 percent at $70.12 and Exxon
off 0.2 percent to $70.46.
Crude oil steadied over $71 a barrel on expectations for a
rise in crude inventory in the United States, the world's top
energy consumer.
U.S. light crude oil <CLc1> rose 10 cents, or 0.14 percent,
to $71.68 per barrel, after bouncing off an early low near
$70. The Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index <.CRB> was up 0.62 points,
or 0.23 percent.
In Europe, stocks closed lower as investors sold bank
shares that had sharply rallied recently. The FTSEurofirst 300
<> index of top European shares fell 0.2 percent to
939.67 points, though it remains up more than 45 percent from
its March lifetime low.
"We've had a very strong move on better-than-expected
earnings, especially among banks," said Philip Lawlor,
strategist at Nomura in London. "It's not surprising that we've
had some profit-taking."
Banks took the most points off the index, after a run that
has seen the DJ STOXX European banking sector index <.SX7P>
rise 140 percent from its March 9 low.
The MSCI world equity index <.MIWD00000PUS> edged up 0.11
percent after hitting its highest level in nearly 10 months on
Monday, while the MSCI index for emerging-market stocks
<.MSCIEF> dipped 0.19 percent.
The good news from the U.S. housing sector was enough to
curb the safe-haven appeal of U.S. Treasuries, sending prices
of 10-year notes <US10YT=RR> down 22/32, with the yield at
3.7181 percent.
The economic optimism spurred by the housing data also cut
the safe-haven bid for the U.S. dollar, keeping it near 2009
lows versus the euro.
"Good news for the U.S. economy is bad news for the U.S.
dollar," said Andrew Wilkinson, senior market analyst at
Interactive Brokers in Greenwich, Connecticut. "In the housing
sector, I think it's safe to say that the immediate future
looks brighter."
The European single-currency <EUR=> was up 0.07 percent at
$1.4426. Against the Japanese yen, the dollar <JPY=> was up
0.16 percent at 95.40.
Sterling hit an eight-month high of $1.7004 <GBP=> before
easing back to $1.6938, unchanged from late Monday.
The Australian dollar hit $0.8470 <AUD=> ,its highest level
since September, after the Reserve Bank of Australia left
interest rates steady but dropped its easing bias, boosting
expectations of a rate hike this year. It was last up 0.2
percent at $0.8431.
(Editing by Leslie Adler)
