* Office Depot, US Steel post losses, stocks slide
* Consumer confidence slips; oil prices hit energy shares
* Dow and Nasdaq off 0.4 pct; S&P 500 off 0.7 pct
* For up-to-the-minute market news click []
(Updates to mid-morning)
By Ellis Mnyandu
NEW YORK, July 28 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks fell on Tuesday
as a drop in July consumer confidence and disappointing
quarterly results and outlooks from Office Depot Inc and U.S.
Steel Corp reignited concerns about the strength of recovery.
U.S. consumer confidence fell in July, according to the
Conference Board, more than expected and marking the second
consecutive monthly decline as a difficult labor market spurred
caution among consumers. For details, see []
"My sense is that it's a relatively modest decline, and
that the focus this week continues to be on corporate earnings
and the improving real estate data," said Eric Kuby, chief
investment officer at NorthStar Investment Management Corp in
Chicago. "The Case-Shiller data this morning is another sign
that the real estate market is getting better, though slowly."
U.S. single-family home prices rose in May from April, the
first monthly increase in nearly three years, suggesting prices
may be stabilizing, according to Standard & Poor's/Case Shiller
home price indexes released on Tuesday. For details, see
[]
The Dow Jones industrial average <> dropped 34.99
points, or 0.38 percent, to 9,073.52. The Standard & Poor's 500
Index <.SPX> fell 6.53 points, or 0.66 percent, to 975.65. The
Nasdaq Composite Index <> shed 7.24 points, or 0.37
percent, to 1,960.65.
With the broader U.S. stock market now having rallied more
than 40 percent from the 12-year lows of early March, investors
want more evidence that the recovery is gaining traction to
justify pushing stocks higher.
Office Depot <ODP.N>, the No. 2 U.S. office supply
retailer, reported a bigger-than-expected quarterly loss as the
recession hurt demand from corporate customers. The stock slid
15 percent to $4.55. For details, see [ID:nBNG460364
U.S. Steel Corp <X.N> reported a second-consecutive
quarterly loss and said it expects all its business sectors to
operate in the red in the third quarter.
The company said customer orders had increased, but the
outlook for overall demand and economic recovery was uncertain.
Its shares dropped 2 percent to $40.45.
Falling oil prices weighed on energy shares, with Exxon
Mobil Corp <XOM.N> down 1.1 percent to $71.88.
U.S. front-month crude <CLc1> declined 2.2 percent, or
$1.53, to $66.84 a barrel.
(Additional reporting by Ryan Vlastelica; Editing by Padraic
Cassidy)
