US STOCKS-Wall St ends lower on profit taking; Yahoo up late

                                
  
                                
 * Housing, inflation data point to bleak recovery
                                
 * Commodity index falls after six sessions of gains
                                
 * Caterpillar, Apple rise on solid earnings
                                
 * Dow off 0.5 pct; S&P off 0.6 pct, Nasdaq down 0.6 pct
                                
 * For up-to-the-minute market news, click [STXNEWS/US]
 (Updates with Yahoo and SanDisk results after the bell, latest
Nasdaq volume)
                                
 By Rodrigo Campos
                                
 NEW YORK, Oct 20 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks retreated from
12-month highs on Tuesday as disappointing housing and
inflation data prompted investors to book recent gains despite
strong results from bellwethers including Apple and
Caterpillar.
                                
 New construction of U.S. homes rose less than expected in
September and U.S. producer prices posted an unexpected
decline, both pointing to an anemic economic recovery. For
details, see [ID:nN20424995]
                                
 DuPont <DD.N> shares fell 2.2 percent to $33.87, making it
a top drag in the S&P materials sector and the Dow industrials
after the chemical maker posted higher-than-expected
third-quarter profit, but revenue fell short of Wall Street
estimates. [ID:nN20416505].
                                
 After the closing bell, Yahoo Inc <YHOO.O>, one of the
largest sellers of online display advertising, said third-
quarter profit more than tripled from a year ago, beating Wall
Street's estimates and sending its stock up 4.1 percent to
$17.88.[ID:nN19388233]
                                
 Flash memory maker SanDisk Corp <SNDK.O> also reported
results after the bell that easily topped Wall Street's
expectations. Its stock soared almost 10 percent in extended
trading to $23.62.
                                
 During regular trading, shares of companies in the
materials sector declined as commodity prices fell. The
Reuters/Jefferies CRB commodity index <.CRB> was off for the
first time in seven sessions and crude oil <CLc1> settled lower
for the first day in nine.
                                
 Shares of home builders also fell, with the Dow Jones home
construction index <.DJUSHB> down 2.1 percent.
                                
 "The market is trying to absorb all the earnings news and
see where the economy stands. The market has rallied recently
pretty good, so it's giving back some of the gains," said Giri
Cherukuri, head trader at OakBrook Investments LLC in Lisle,
Illinois.
                                
 "Off the weaker housing data, people are forecasting a
little bit weaker economy and that is hurting commodities, as
the economy may not be as strong as previously expected."
                                
 Caterpillar Inc <CAT.N> shares hit a 12-month high after
the machinery maker's third-quarter earnings soared past
expectations.
                                
 Caterpillar, up 3 percent at $59.61, was the Dow's <.DJI>
best performer.
                                
 But the blue-chip Dow Jones industrial average dropped
50.71 points, or 0.50 percent, to end at 10,041.48. The
Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> fell 6.85 points, or 0.62
percent, to 1,091.06. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> shed
12.85 points, or 0.59 percent, to close at 2,163.47.
                                
 Among other Dow components reporting on Tuesday, United
Technologies Corp <UTX.N> dipped 0.1 percent to $65.40 after
its profit fell from the year-ago quarter. Pfizer Inc <PFE.N>
fell 0.3 percent to $17.93 despite beating profit
expectations.
                                
 Coca-Cola Co <KO.N> fell 1.3 percent to $54.07 after
reporting sales that also missed expectations.
[ID:nN20380392].
                                
 Crude oil fell and hurt shares of energy companies. U.S.
November crude oil futures <CLc1> expired at the close and
settled at $79.09 a barrel, down 0.65 percent, or 52 cents.
[ID:nN20429073].
                                
 Shares of Dow components Chevron Corp <CVX.N> and Exxon
Mobil Corp <XOM.N> fell about 0.8 percent, with Chevron closing
at $77.03 and Exxon at $73.02.
                                
 Brokerages lifted their price targets on Apple Inc on
Tuesday, a day after the the iPhone maker posted earnings and
sales that were higher than expected. [ID:nBNG533786]
                                
 Apple shares closed up 4.7 percent at $198.76.
                                
 In spite of Tuesday's decline, the stock market's trend in
the third quarter has been mostly positive. U.S. stocks have
risen steadily as S&P 500 companies have largely exceeded
earnings expectations.
                                
 Through noon Tuesday, with 95 of the benchmark S&P 500
companies having reported earnings, 79 percent have beaten
expectations and only 11 percent have fallen behind, according
to Thomson Reuters data.
                                
 Volume was moderate on the New York Stock Exchange, with
nearly 1.24 billion shares changing hands, below last year's
estimated daily average of 1.49 billion. On the Nasdaq, about
2.15 billion shares traded, below last year's daily average of
2.28 billion.
                                
 Declining stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by
a ratio of about 2 to 1, while on the Nasdaq, nearly three
stocks fell for every one that rose.