US STOCKS-Market slides, pressured by consumer, bank shares

                                
 * Banks drop on increased fears about stiff rules
                                
 * Shares of retailers fall on consumer doubts
                                
 * 'Double-dip camp' finds new reason to sell
                                
 * Dow off 1.4 pct, S&P off 1.7 pct, Nasdaq off 1.6 pct
                                
 * For up-to-the-minute market news see [STXNEWS/US]
  (Updates to close, changes byline)
                                
 By Ryan Vlastelica
                                
 NEW YORK, June 24 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 fell for the
fourth straight day on Thursday as fresh signs of consumer
weakness and worries about stringent financial regulation
provoked investors to unload positions.
                                
 The S&P 500 has lost 3.8 percent in four days, with
retailers among the biggest decliners a day after discouraging
outlooks from Bed Bath & Beyond <BBBY.O> and athletic apparel
maker Nike Inc <NKE.N>.
                                
 Nike shares were down 4 percent at $69.95 while Bed Bath &
Beyond slumped 5.7 percent to $39.07. The S&P Retail index
<.RLX> slid 2.8 percent. For details, see [ID:nN23128037]
[ID:nSGE65M0JD].
                                
 "People's general focus is on how fragile the recovery is,
and recent data points are giving fodder to the double-dip
camp," said Mark Luschini, chief investment strategist at
Janney Montgomery Scott in Philadelphia. 
                                
 Banks were pressured by fears Congress would pass stringent
rules in an overhaul of financial regulations. Lawmakers were
on the verge of adopting a bill that could restrict banks'
trading and investment activities, crimping their profits. For
details see [ID:nN23235380].
                                
 JPMorgan Chase & Co <JPM.N> fell 2.2 percent to $38.03
while Bank of America Corp <BAC.N> was off 2.7 percent at
$15.02. The KBW Bank index <.BKX> lost 2.2 percent.
                                
  "We don't know how oppressive the rules could be, and the
market hates that uncertainty." said Rob Stein, managing
partner at Astor Asset Management in Chicago.
                                
 The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> dropped 145.64
points, or 1.41 percent, to 10,152.80. The Standard & Poor's
500 Index <.SPX> fell 18.35 points, or 1.68 percent, to
1,073.70. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> lost 36.81 points,
or 1.63 percent, to 2,217.42.
                                
 A drop in initial jobless claims and a rise in a gauge of
long-lasting manufactured goods failed to offset recent weak
economic data, and the Federal Reserve on Wednesday gave a
subdued assessment about the economy's recovery.
[ID:nN24110731].
                                
 Chipmakers as measured by the Philadelphia semiconductor
index <.SOXX> were off 2.9 percent. Six semiconductor
companies, including Micron Technology Inc <MU.O> have agreed
to pay $173 million to settle U.S. antitrust lawsuits accusing
them of conspiring to keep computer chip prices artificially
high. Micron shares fell 2 percent to $9.62. [ID:nN24152021]
                                
 Computer maker Dell Inc <DELL.O> fell 6.4 percent to
$12.93. The company said it was focused on improving
profitability and diversifying, but investors expressed doubts
about the company's turnaround plan. [ID:nN24115283]
                                
 After the bell on Thursday, Oracle Corp <ORCL.O> rose 2.2
percent to $22.70 after reporting its fourth-quarter results.
[ID:nWNAB0921]
                                
 The S&P Energy index <.GSPE> fell 2 percent while
U.S.-listed shares of BP Plc <BP.N> dropped 3.1 percent to
$28.74 and hit a 52-week low in intraday trading.
                                
 In bearish technical signs, the S&P fell below its 14-day
moving average and breached the 1,083 level, a key retracement
of the slide from its 2010 high in April to the year's low on
May 25.
                                
 Some expected stocks to rebound after a few days in which
the market fell on higher volume, a sign of institutional
selling known as distribution days.
                                
 "Usually in good markets, with a few good distribution days
you get a strong reversal, and we're not seeing it," said
Steven Wolf, managing director of investments at Source Capital
Group in Westport, Connecticut. "It's almost like the market
has started to give up."
                                
 Pfizer Inc <PFE.N> fell 2.8 percent to $14.46 after it
suspended clinical trials of its experimental arthritis drug.
[ID:nN23207559]
                                
 On the upside, Hasbro Inc <HAS.N> gained 4.9 percent to
$43.14 after a news report that the toy company was in
negotiations for a possible leveraged buyout, a report the
company denied. [ID:nN24123501]
                                
 About 8.65 billion shares traded on the New York Stock
Exchange, the American Stock Exchange and Nasdaq, well below
last year's estimated daily average of 9.65 billion.
                                
 Declining stocks outnumbered advancing ones on both the
NYSE and Nasdaq by a ratio of more than 3 to 1.
 (Reporting by Ryan Vlastelica; Editing by Kenneth Barry)