US STOCKS-Wall St stumbles as financials, energy shrs weigh
* Economic reports mixed, consumer sentiment slips
* Insurers fall after MetLife, Aon reports
* Dow off 0.8 pct, S&P off 0.7 pct, Nasdaq off 0.5 pct
* For up-to-the-minute market news, click [STXNEWS/US]
(Updates to early morning)
By Leah Schnurr
NEW YORK, Oct 30 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks fell on Friday, the day after logging their best gains in three months, as sectors that have led the rally pulled back.
Several reports pointed to a mixed economic picture on the heels of a government report that showed gross domestic product grew at its best rate in two years. Midwest area manufacturing was strong, but consumer sentiment slipped this month. For details, see [ID:nN30412996] [ID:nLU357472]
"Confidence still strikes me as shockingly low," said Jeff Kleintop, chief market strategist at LPL Financial in Boston.
"Consumers are still very pessimistic, and that is evident in individual investors' hesitancy to embrace this rally."
The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI lost 76.93 points, or 0.77 percent, to 9,885.65. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX dropped 7.86 points, or 0.74 percent, to 1,058.25. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC slipped 10.65 points, or 0.51 percent, to 2,086.90.
Among the the biggest decliners, financials .GSPF fell 2.1 percent, while energy shares .GSPE lost 1.3 percent. Chevron Corp (CVX.N) drooped 1 percent to $77.14 as quarterly profit tumbled 51 percent. [ID:nN30387292]
MetLife Inc (MET.N) dropped 5.8 percent to $34.70 after the No. 1 U.S. life insurer posted its third straight quarterly loss, while Aon Corp AOC.N lost 6.2 percent to $38.60 as revenue declined. The KBW insurance index insurers .KIX was down 2.4 percent. [ID:nN29377458] [ID:nN29379100]
On the final trading day of the month, the S&P 500 is up just 0.4 percent for October. If the index is unable to hold onto the month's gains, it will snap a seven-month winning streak.
(Reporting by Leah Schnurr and Chuck Mikolajczak; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)
