US STOCKS-Wall St falls on financials' weight; S&P off for Oct
* Economic reports mixed, consumer sentiment slips
* Insurers fall after MetLife, Aon results
* Dow off 1.4 pct, S&P off 1.5 pct, Nasdaq off 1.4 pct
* For up-to-the-minute market news, click [STXNEWS/US] (Updates to midday, changes byline)
NEW YORK, Oct 30 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks fell on Friday, led by financial stocks as reports painting a mixed economic picture dented optimism fed by the economy's return to growth.
On the heels of a government report that showed gross domestic product grew at its best rate in two years, Friday's data showed Midwest area manufacturing was strong, but consumer sentiment slipped this month. For details, see [ID:nN30412996] [ID:nLU357472]
The Nasdaq .IXIC was on track to post its first month of decline in eight and the S&P 500 struggled to end the month in positive territory, evidence of a loss in steam after a rally that drove stocks up nearly 60 percent from lows hit in March.
"The market's had a huge run up and hedge funds and money managers are coming into crunch time," said Tom Alexander, head of Alexander Trading in Savannah, Georgia.
"Those that had these huge gains may have a finger on the trigger, locking in some of those gains."
The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI lost 135.58 points, or 1.36 percent, to 9,827.00. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX fell 15.49 points, or 1.45 percent, to 1,050.62. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC dropped 28.34 points, or 1.35 percent, to 2,069.21.
Among the the biggest decliners, an S&P index of financial stocks .GSPF fell 3 percent, while an S&P energy sector index .GSPE lost 2.7 percent. Dow component Chevron Corp (CVX.N) fell 1.9 percent to $76.48 as the major oil company's quarterly profit tumbled 51 percent, hurt partly by a sharp drop in oil and natural gas prices. [ID:nN30387292]
MetLife Inc (MET.N) dropped 6 percent to $34.63 after the No. 1 U.S. life insurer posted its third straight quarterly loss, while Aon Corp (AOC.N) lost 6.1 percent to $38.69 as revenue declined. The KBW insurance index insurers .KIX was down 3.1 percent. [ID:nN29377458] [ID:nN29379100]
Bucking the trend in the sector, Genworth Financial Inc (GNW.N) shares jumped 3.4 percent to $10.53 after the insurer reported a net operating profit on Thursday that beat Wall Street's expectations. [ID:nN29382628].
NYSE Euronext (NYX.N)(NYX.PA) said it is selling a "significant equity interest" in its derivatives exchange NYSE Liffe U.S. at the same time it reported a drop in earnings. Its shares dropped 3.4 percent to $26.64. [ID:nLU559590] Continued...
