US STOCKS-Wall St flat, earnings, strong dollar pressure

                                
  
                                
 * U.S. Steel. AK Steel tumble after results
                                
 * Aug home prices fall, Oct consumer confidence up
                                
 * Dow up 0.1 pct, S&P off 0.04 pct, Nasdaq up 0.1 pct
                                
 * For up-to-the-minute market news see [STXNEWS/US]
  (Updates to midmorning)
                                
 By Leah Schnurr
                                
 NEW YORK, Oct 26 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks were little
changed on Tuesday, pressured by a stronger dollar and
lackluster corporate results from the materials and technology
sector.
                                
 Indexes cut losses to turn briefly positive on gains in
consumer discretionary shares after data showed consumer
confidence rose slightly in October. Hotel shares helped boost
the sector after Bernstein raised its price targets on Marriott
International Inc <MAR.N> and Starwood Hotels & Resorts
Worldwide Inc <HOT.N>. [RCH/US]
                                
 But the materials sector led the way down, weighed by soft
commodity prices and disappointing results from the steel
sector.
                                
 Broadly, equities continued to take their cue from the U.S.
dollar, which steadied with the dollar index <.DXY> up 0.6
percent.
                                
 Stocks and the greenback have formed an inverse
relationship, exacerbated by expectations the U.S. Federal
Reserve will embark on another round of economic stimulus. For
a Q+A, see [ID:nN2199257]
                                
 "The driver today will be the dollar, which is pushing
markets lower," said Paul Nolte, managing director at Dearborn
Partners in Chicago.
                                
 Earlier, data showed single-family home prices fell for the
second straight month in August, hovering near recent lows
after the expiration of popular homebuyer tax credits. For
details, see [ID:nN2649346] and [ID:nN26127639]
                                
 "On balance, the data is marginally worse than expected,
given the revenue misses from many of the companies, and
continued weak housing numbers," said Nolte.
                                
 The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> edged up 5.86
points, or 0.05 percent, at 11,169.91. The Standard & Poor's
500 Index <.SPX> eased 0.47 points, or 0.04 percent, to
1,185.15. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> added 3.04 points,
or 0.12 percent, to 2,493.89.
                                
 Texas Instruments Inc <TXN.N> fell 1.6 percent at $28.51
after it warned that fourth-quarter revenue will be hurt by
slowing demand. The PHLX semiconductor index <.SOX> was off 0.4
percent. [ID:nN26115819]
                                
 U.S. Steel Corp <X.N> lost 3.5 percent to $40.77, and AK
Steel Holding Corp <AKS.N> tumbled 4.4 percent to $12.75 after
both companies posted quarterly losses and were downbeat about
the fourth quarter. [ID:nN26115819] and [ID:nN26272565]
                                
 The Dow Jones U.S. Hotels index <.DJUSLG> rose 0.5 percent,
while Marriott gained 0.8 percent to $37.88, and Starwood added
0.7 percent to $58.
  (Additional reporting by Ryan Vlastelica; editing by Jeffrey
Benkoe)