NEW YORK - Stocks are paring early losses as investors cheer a report showing more signs of healing in the housing market.

The National Association of Realtors says pending home sales rose for a fifth straight month in June. The results were far better than analysts expected.

Stocks pulled off their lows and traded mixed following the report. The market was slightly lower in early trading, following declines on overseas exchanges.

Still, the market's reaction to the report was generally muted, a sign that investors have come to expect the signs of slow improvement in housing.

The Dow Jones industrial average is up 5 at 9,291. The Standard & Poor's 500 index is down 2 at 1,000, while the Nasdaq composite index is down 6 at 2,001.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

NEW YORK (AP) - Investors are pausing after the market's huge rally, pushing stocks slightly lower as they wait for more confirmation that the economic recovery is under way.

The early slide in stocks on Tuesday follows mostly lower trading on overseas markets and comes after a three-week-long rally that catapulted the benchmark Standard & Poor's 500 index past the 1,000 mark on Monday for the first time since November.

Investors appeared little moved by the day's earnings and economic news and instead focused on locking in some profits following a 14 percent climb in stocks since July 13.

The Commerce Department said consumers spending rose 0.4 percent in June, slightly more than anticipated and the second straight gain. But the department said personal incomes, which fuel future spending, dropped by a larger-than-expected 1.3 percent.

Among the day's earnings news, homebuilder D.R. Horton Inc. said its fiscal third-quarter loss shrank from the year-ago period, beating Wall Street's estimates. And a day after automakers reported improved U.S. auto sales for July, Toyota posted a smaller-than-expected quarterly loss and said it expects narrower losses for the full year.

Later Tuesday, the National Association of Realtors will issue a report on pending home sales in June, which analysts expect to rise for a fifth month in a row.

Stock market investors have seen better-than-expected corporate earnings reports and encouraging outlooks this summer, as well as data showing improvements in the manufacturing and housing industries. Such promising signs have driven hopes that the nearly two-year-long recession is coming to an end, pushing stocks up to levels not seen since last fall.

In the first half hour of trading, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 17.15, or 0.2 percent, to 9,269.41. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 4.65, or 0.5 percent, to 997.98, while the Nasdaq composite index fell 9.72, or 0.5 percent, to 1,998.89.

Despite the decline in stocks Tuesday, analysts generally believe the market's near-term trajectory is upward, with investors seeing dips in stocks as an opportunity to put money to work, afraid of missing out on an extended rally.

"We are cautiously optimistic that this trend will continue," said Janet Engels, senior vice president and director of private client research group at RBC Wealth Management. "We also believe this market will be prone to pullbacks."

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