* P&G slides after results
* Pfizer rallies after profit beats expectations
* Consumer spending and income flat in June
* Dow off 0.4 pct, S&P down 0.5 pct, Nasdaq off 0.5 pct
* For up-to-the-minute market news see []
(Updates to close, changes byline)
By Chuck Mikolajczak
NEW YORK, Aug 3 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks slipped on Tuesday
as Dow component Procter & Gamble Co.'s <PG.N> lackluster
results, coupled with weaker-than-estimated data on consumer
spending and housing, prompted investors to exercise caution a
day after the market's 2 percent rally.
P&G dropped 3.4 percent to $59.94, ranking as the top drag
on the Dow industrials after the consumer goods maker reported
fourth-quarter earnings that missed expectations. For details,
see []
"After a nice little rally, it's probably a little bit of
a pause," said Tommy Huie, president of Marshall Funds in
Milwaukee.
"When the consumer sector has some disappointments in
terms of consumption and retail spending, P&G down 3 or 4
percent, that is kind of tough to overcome."
An index of pending home sales slid to a record low in
June while consumer spending and personal incomes were flat,
providing mounting evidence of a slowdown in economic growth.
But the market's losses were curbed by fellow Dow
component Pfizer Inc. <PFE.N>, which posted
higher-than-expected profit and provided a bullish long-term
outlook. []
Pfizer, whose stock climbed 5.6 percent to $16.34, helped
boost healthcare-related stocks, as the S&P Healthcare sector
index <.GSPA> rose 0.8 percent and the Morgan Stanley
Healthcare Payor Index <.HMO> gained 1.5 percent.
The Dow Jones industrial average <> dropped 38.00
points, or 0.36 percent, to 10,636.38. The Standard & Poor's
500 Index <.SPX> shed 5.40 points, or 0.48 percent, to
1,120.46. The Nasdaq Composite Index <> lost 11.84
points, or 0.52 percent, to 2,283.52.
The S&P Consumer Discretionary Sector <.GSPD> fell 1.3
percent while the S&P Retail index <.RLX> lost 1.9 percent.
[]
Other data included U.S. factory orders, which fell
steeply in June, and a plunge in an index of pending home
sales to a record low of 75.7 in June, giving additional
evidence that growth assumed a more sluggish tone at the end
of the second quarter.
"We've actually seen this for a number of days where the
economic news has been, not terrible, but not particularly
positive, and yet the market hangs in there very well," said
Tim Ghriskey, chief investment officer of Solaris Asset
Management in Bedford Hills, New York.
"It's certainly a positive sign that this market has some
staying power up at these levels, and has the potential to go
higher here."
The S&P 500 held above its 200-day moving average of
around 1,114, a potentially positive signal. But it didn't
quite maintain its grip on the 1,121 mark, the midpoint
between the historic high reached in October 2007 and the
12-year closing low hit in March 2009.
Analysts also noted the market was in line for some
consolidation after Monday's climb to a 10-week high -- coming
off July's jump of nearly 7 percent -- the best month in a
year.
U.S.-listed shares of Research in Motion <RIM.TO> <RIMM.O>
slid 2.5 percent to $55.53 and ranked among the heaviest
weights on the Nasdaq after the Canadian company unveiled a
new BlackBerry smart phone product in an effort to counter
Apple Inc's <AAPL.O> popular iPhone product. [].
Regarding the new BlackBerry phone, NPD analyst Ross Rubin
said, "The operating system has some new touches and
integration, but there's nothing here that really represents a
leap forward beyond what others are providing."
Volume was light, with about 7.25 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 declining ones on the NYSE by
a ratio of 3-to-2, while on the Nasdaq, nearly two stocks fell
for every one that rose.
(Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; Additional reporting by Ryan
Vlastelica; Editing by Jan Paschal)
