US STOCKS-Wall St flat on financial sector worry

* Financials drag on the market on credit concerns

* Oil's rebound and Iran's missile tests spark caution

* Alcoa provides a bright spot after quarterly profit (Updates to midmorning)

By Ellis Mnyandu

NEW YORK, July 9 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks were little changed in choppy trading on Wednesday as fears of further credit losses in the financial sector and rebounding oil prices offset Alcoa Inc's (AA.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) stronger-than-expected quarterly profit.

Higher oil prices contributed to declines in shares of big manufacturers, including General Electric (GE.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), down more than 1 percent, and 3M Co (MMM.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), down nearly 2 percent.

Shares of credit card and travel services company American Express (AXP.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) led financials lower with a decline of more than 2 percent.

Investors worried about the outlook for technology spending after John Chambers, the chief executive of Cisco Systems Inc (CSCO.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) told Reuters the network equipment company's customers expected a recovery early next year rather than later this year. In May, he had said a pick-up was more likely sooner. For details, see [ID:nN08255800].

"There's still a lot of uncertainty out there, so it's going to be hard for the market to make any real progress," said Alan Lancz, president of Alan B. Lancz & Associates Inc, an investment advisory firm in Toledo, Ohio.