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* Home Depot, Kohl's drop on full-year forecast cuts
* AT&T falls on research downgrade, Broadcom gains on
upgrade
* Indexes: Dow down 0.33%, S&P up 0.03%, Nasdaq up 0.37%
(Updates to late afternoon, adds commentary, changes byline,
adds New York dateline)
By Sinéad Carew
New York, Nov 19 (Reuters) - The Dow Jones Industrial
Average .DJI fell from record levels while the S&P was flat on
Tuesday as dour forecasts from retailers Home Depot and Kohl's
fueled worries about consumer spending while uncertainty over
the U.S.-China trade dispute simmered in the background.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq .IXIC was the best-performing of the
three indexes, with support from Facebook Inc FB.O and
Broadcom Inc AVGO.O helping to counter a drag from Qualcomm
QCOM.O after the chip maker held an investor meeting.
Home Depot Inc HD.N fell 5.2% and was the top drag on the
benchmark S&P 500 and blue-chip Dow after the No.1 U.S. home
improvement chain cut its 2019 sales forecast for the second
time this year. Kohl's Corp KSS.N slumped 19.3% as the department store
operator slashed its annual profit forecast after falling short
of quarterly comparable sales and earnings estimates.
But Keith Lerner, chief market strategist at SunTrust
Advisory Services in Atlanta, said it was too early to panic
about the all-important end-of year holiday shopping season.
"Markets are digesting the recent gains and waiting for a
little more clarity on the trade side," said Lerner. "We still
think the holiday season will be fine."
Expectations of a U.S.-China trade deal and a largely
better-than-expected third-quarter corporate earnings season
have fueled a Wall Street rally over recent weeks, helping all
three indexes set record highs.
With less than an hour of trading left in the session, the
Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 93.69 points, or 0.33%,
to 27,942.53, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 0.86 points, or 0.03%,
to 3,122.89 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 31.63 points,
or 0.37%, to 8,581.56.
Seven of the 11 major S&P 500 sectors were lower on the day,
with the consumer discretionary index's .SPLRCD 0.79% drop
weighing most. The S&P 500 retail index .SPXRT fell 1.08%.
The energy sector .SPNY was the S&P's biggest percentage
decliner as oil prices fell on concerns about excess global
supply and limited progress toward resolving the U.S.-China
trade dispute, which has clouded the demand outlook. O/R
Investors will also be watching for earnings reports from
other retailers, including Lowe's Cos Inc LOW.N , Target Corp
TGT.N and Nordstrom Inc JWN.N later this week.
They will also look for more details on the Fed's monetary
policy stance from Wednesday's release of the central bank's
minutes from the latest policy meeting, in which it cut interest
rates for the third time this year but signaled it may be done
with rate easing for now.
AT&T Inc T.N fell 3.9% after MoffettNathanson downgraded
the U.S. telecommunications service provider to "sell" from
"neutral." Chipmaker Broadcom rose 2.5% following a Morgan Stanley
upgrade to "overweight" from "equal-weight". Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a
1.09-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.80-to-1 ratio favored advancers.
The S&P 500 posted 40 new 52-week highs and 2 new lows; the
Nasdaq Composite recorded 102 new highs and 101 new lows.