US STOCKS-S&P, Dow fall two weeks in a row on recovery woes

                                

                                
 * Economy concerns weigh on global equities
                                
 * HP shares dip after brokerages cut price target
                                
 * Marvell, Intuit shares jump after forecasts
                                
 * Dow off 0.6 pct, S&P 500 off 0.4 pct, Nasdaq up 0.04 pct
                                
 * For up-to-the-minute market news see [STXNEWS/US]
  (Updates to close)
                                
 By Leah Schnurr
                                
 NEW YORK, Aug 20 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks slipped on Friday
and the S&P 500 and Dow fell for a second straight week on
persistent concerns the recovery has tapered off.
                                
 Even so, major indexes came off Friday's lows as some
investors homed in on positive outlooks in the tech sector and
used this week's M&A news as an excuse for late-day buying.
                                
 "Earnings season came in pretty strong; M&A activity was
very encouraging this week and that's usually a bullish sign,"
said Ryan Detrick, senior technical strategist at Schaeffer's
Investment Research in Cincinnati, Ohio.
                                
 "The flip side is the economic data this week has been
very, very poor. No one's making a big bet either way, it's
just short-term moves."
                                
 The Nasdaq fared better than the other indexes to end a
hair higher after positive forecasts from Marvell Technology
Group Ltd <MRVL.O> and Intuit Inc <INTU.O> drove their shares
up.
                                
 The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> slipped 57.59
points, or 0.56 percent, to 10,213.62. The Standard & Poor's
500 Index <.SPX> was off 3.94 points, or 0.37 percent, to
1,071.69. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> added 0.81 points,
or 0.04 percent, to 2,179.76.
                                
 For the week, the S&P 500 was down 0.7 percent, the Dow
slipped 0.9 percent, while the Nasdaq gained 0.3 percent. It
was the second week of declines for the S&P and the Dow.
                                
 Technical support held around the 1,070 level after the S&P
500 fell below that before recovering. The level, which
represents last week's low, held as support on Thursday as
well.
                                
 Investors did not embrace all tech shares. Hewlett-Packard
Co <HPQ.N> was among the biggest drags on the Dow after several
brokerages cut their price targets on the computer maker's
shares due to concern about demand for tech products. HP fell
2.2 percent at $39.85. For details, see [ID:nN20135798]
                                
 Thursday's gloomy jobs and regional manufacturing data
remained in the forefront as investors debated how much the
recovery could slow, while overall options action reflected
cautious investor sentiment. [ID:nN20149091]
                                
 With August options expiring on Friday, options investors
are bracing for a quiet market next week.
                                
 The CBOE Volatility index, Wall Street's fear gauge, was
expected to stay below 25, suggesting a relatively calm market.
The index closed down 3.6 percent.
                                
 Natural resource stocks such as Chevron Corp <CVX.N> and
Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc <FCX.N> came under pressure
as U.S. crude oil fell more than 1 percent and copper futures
stumbled.
                                
 Chevron dipped 1 percent to $75.05, while Freeport McMoRan
was off 1 percent to $71.37.
                                
 On the upside, chipmaker Marvell gained 8.4 percent to
$16.16, while software maker Intuit jumped 15 percent to
$44.60. [ID:nSGE67I0JC] [ID:nN19256127]
  (Reporting by Leah Schnurr; Additional reporting by Doris
Frankel and Angela Moon; Editing by Kenneth Barry)