US STOCKS-S&P 500 subdued on risks linked to reopening of economy

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* Consumer price index falls 0.8% in April
* Simon Property, Macerich jump after results
* BlackRock drops as top holder dumps stake
* Indexes: Dow up 0.23%, S&P flat, Nasdaq rises 0.34%

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By Medha Singh and Sruthi Shankar
May 12 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 struggled for direction on
Tuesday as the risks of reopening the economy too soon
overshadowed hopes of a jump-start to a battered global economy,
following an easing of virus-led business shutdowns.
Among the 11 major sectors, financial stocks .SPSY , which
generally lag when the economic outlook dims, weighed the most
on the S&P 500.
Also dragging the sector lower was a 5.5% fall in BlackRock
Inc BLK.N , after its top shareholder PNC Financial Services
Group Inc PNC.N planned to sell its entire 22% stake in the
world's largest asset manager. Optimism about an economic recovery and massive stimulus
measures have helped the benchmark index climb about 34% from
the lows of a pandemic-driven selloff in March.
"There's an assumption that the worst is behind us, (but) it
feels a bit premature to be frank," said Keith Buchanan, a
portfolio manager at GLOBALT in Atlanta.
"We do see accelerating infection in some places, but how
that story is written into the far is yet to be seen."
Wuhan reported its first cluster of coronavirus infections
since a lockdown on the city, stoking concerns of a wider
resurgence. Also on Tuesday, leading U.S. infectious disease expert
Anthony Fauci warned that while the federal government is
working to help manufacture a vaccine against the new
coronavirus, its development "might take some time" to come to
market.
According to a report before the hearing, Fauci warned that
moving too quickly to ease restrictions on business and social
life will put lives at risk from the pandemic and hamper the
economic recovery. "The stock market has rebounded dramatically over the past
few weeks, but there is still plenty of uncertainty surrounding
the reopening of the U.S. economy," said Dan Russo, chief market
strategist of Chaikin Analytics.
"The stock market is on a short-term uptrend, within the
context of a longer trend that is flat at best."
Wall Street's fear gauge .VIX slipped for the fourth day
running, hitting a ten-week low, even as data showed U.S.
consumer prices in April dropped by the most since the Great
Recession. At 11:24 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
was up 54.56 points, or 0.23%, at 24,276.55, the S&P 500 .SPX
was up 1.69 points, or 0.06%, at 2,932.01.
The Nasdaq Composite .IXIC was up 31.42 points, or 0.34%,
at 9,223.77, rising for the seventh straight day.
Among other stocks, Simon Property Group Inc SPG.N jumped
4.3% as the biggest U.S. mall operator said it would have about
half of its more than 200 retail properties in the country open
within the next week. Smaller rival Macerich Co MAC.N climbed 4.3% as it
expected to open a vast majority of its properties by mid-June.
Declining issues outnumbered advancers for a 1.18-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and a 1.07-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded seven new 52-week highs and two new
lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 71 new highs and 18 new lows.