Stocks slide as July consumer confidence falls

Jitters about the U.S. economy are putting the stock market rally on hold again. Stocks fell moderately today after a private research group said consumer confidence fell more than expected in July. The market watches that measure closely since spending by consumers accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity. Analysts have been anticipating some pullback after the market soared 11 percent in just two weeks on surprisingly strong corporate profit reports. The latest run restarted a rally that began in March but faltered in mid-June on lackluster economic data. "There is uncertainty about how fast the rally can go and how far it can go," said Robert Phillips, a managing director at Spectrum Management Group of Raymond James & Associates. Trading started off on a cautious note Tuesday after the latest round of earnings came in mixed. Viacom Inc. reported a sharp drop in profits and Valero Energy Corp. posted a quarterly loss, however both were better than expected. In midmorning trading, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 36.88, or 0.4 percent, at 9,071.63. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 6.98, or 0.7 percent, to 975.20, while the Nasdaq composite index slid 9.02, or 0.5 percent, to 1,968.87.