* Positive US housing data offsets consumer spending woes
* US stocks gain as housing data boosts financial sector
* US Treasuries dip as housing data curbs safe-haven appeal
* Oil closes lower for first time in four sessions
By Walter Brandimarte
NEW YORK, Aug 4 (Reuters) - Global stocks closed nearly
flat while oil prices dipped on Tuesday as investors turned
more cautious a day after risk appetite revived on renewed
optimism about an economic recovery.
A mixed bag of U.S. economic indicators gave investors the
cue to pocket some recent gains, although key Wall Street
stocks indexes rose slightly with the help of the financial
sector.
Better-than-expected June data on pending sales of
previously owned U.S. homes offset news that U.S. consumers
suffered their biggest income drop in four and a half years.
Consumer spending rose slightly more than forecast in June, but
it was pushed up by higher gasoline prices. []
[]
The rise in stocks pushed down the safe-haven appeal of
Treasuries, sending prices of U.S. government bonds lower.
"It is a profit taking day. Any correction of this type
should be used as an opportunity to buy more," said Edward
Riley, chief investment officer of Riley Asset Management in
Boston.
The MSCI world equity index <.MIWD00000PUS> edged up 0.11
percent after hitting its highest level in nearly 10 months on
Monday
The Dow Jones industrial average <> ended up 33.63
points, or 0.36 percent, at 9,320.19, while the Standard &
Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> rose 3.02 points, or 0.30 percent, to
1,005.65. The Nasdaq Composite Index <> climbed 2.70
points, or 0.13 percent, at 2,011.31.
The Dow Jones Home Construction index <.DJUSHB> gained 2.5
percent after 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.
The S&P financial index <.GSPF> rose 2.1 percent as the
housing data was also positive for the sector.
But U.S. crude oil ended lower for the first time in four
sessions, with traders taking profits ahead of inventory
reports expected to show supplies rose last week. The September
crude contract <CLU9> settled down 16 cents, or 0.22 percent,
at $71.42 a barrel.
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 index for emerging-market stocks <.MSCIEF> dipped
0.19 percent, also retreating from its highest in nearly 11
months.
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 down 15/32, with the yield at
3.6905 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 euroy <EUR=> was down 0.04 percent at $1.441 <EUR=>. It
hit a nine-month high of $1.4445 on Monday, according to
Reuters data.
Against the Japanese yen, the dollar <JPY=> was down 0.01
percent at 95.24.
