Wall St slips on recession worries, retailers

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks fell on Monday on more evidence the year-long recession will keep eating into corporate profits, while retailers tumbled on worry the holiday shopping season could be the worst in nearly 40 years.

* Japan's Toyota Motor Co <7203.T> said it would post an operating loss for the first time, knocking its U.S. shares 5.4 percent lower, while investors worried whether Washington's rescue package for General Motors would leave its shareholders out in the cold. GM plunged 21.6 percent.

* Concerns over the outlook for retailers mounted just days before Christmas as investors worried that cash-strapped consumers had kept a lid on shopping despite deep discounts over the last weekend before the holiday.

* Just after 4 p.m., the Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> was lower by 60.14 points, or 0.70 percent, at 8,518.97. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> slipped 16.30 points, or 1.84 percent, at 871.58. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> dropped 31.97 points, or 2.04 percent, at 1,532.35.

(Reporting by Deepa Seetharaman; Editing by Leslie Adler)