Wall Street falls on muddled economic picture

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks fell on Thursday as economic data painted a mixed picture of a recovery a day before the critical April payrolls report.

While corporate earnings were strong and the latest jobless claims report was encouraging, a lower-than-expected reading on the services sector and weakness in retail stocks drove the day's trading.

Nonetheless, the S&P remained close to 4-year highs reached in early April.

Initial jobless claims posted their biggest weekly drop since May 2011 and countered Wednesday's weaker report on private sector hiring.

A report Thursday from the Institute for Supply Management showed the pace of growth in the U.S. services sector slowed more than expected in April and new orders dropped. On Tuesday, the ISM said factory activity picked up in April.

"This is a continuation of the volatility and fits and starts we've seen in economic data, and that's causing investors to take a wait-and-see attitude before tomorrow," said Chuck Carlson, chief executive at Horizon Investment Services LLC in Hammond, Indiana.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> was down 35.91 points, or 0.27 percent, at 13,232.66. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> took off 6.40 points, or 0.46 percent, at 1,395.91. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> fell 26.96 points, or 0.88 percent, at 3,032.89.

The S&P 500 declined in April, the first monthly drop since November, on softening domestic data coupled with flare-ups in the euro zone debt crisis.

The index has struggled to convincingly break above the 1,400 level, a key resistance point, without stronger proof of the recovery, even as corporate earnings have largely topped expectations.

Retail stocks fell after several large chains missed sales estimates in April. The results were a troubling sign for consumer spending.

Gap Inc fell 1.2 percent to $28.80 while Target Corp lost 2.6 percent to $56.45, and the S&P retail index <.RLX> was off 0.7 percent.

"Retail sales were mixed at best," said Allen Sinai, chief executive at Decision Economics Inc in New York. "As far as consumer fundamentals go, we're better than we were a few months ago but we're still far from the good old days."

General Motors Co lost 2.1 percent to $22.45 after analysts said the carmaker's North America outlook implied results for the first nine months of the year would fall short of expectations.

Health Net Inc slid 29 percent to $25.91 after profit missed expectations and the insurer cut its forecast. The Morgan Stanley healthcare payor index <.HMO> dropped 5.3 percent.

Of the 391 companies in the index reporting results, 68.3 percent have topped expectations, according to Thomson Reuters data through Thursday morning.

Earnings were expected from 35 S&P 500 companies on Thursday, including American International Group Inc and Kraft Foods Inc .

Dutch food and chemicals group DSM agreed to buy medical device maker Kensey Nash Corp for $360 million, sending shares up 32.2 percent to $38.35.

(Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)

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