NEW YORK - Stocks drifted lower Tuesday, taking a break from a huge rally, as more signs of healing in the housing market and an uptick in consumer spending failed to spur buying.

The dip comes after a three-week-long surge that catapulted the Standard & Poor's 500 index past the 1,000 mark on Monday for the first time since November.

Investors appeared little fazed by the day's earnings and economic news, and focused instead on locking in some profits following a 14 percent climb in the S&P and Dow Jones industrials since July 10.

Stocks pulled off their lows and briefly traded mixed after the National Association of Realtors reported a better-than-expected rise in pending home sales for a fifth straight month in June. Analysts said the market has already factored in an improving housing sector.

Earlier Tuesday, the Commerce Department said consumer spending rose 0.4 percent in June, slightly more than anticipated and the second straight monthly gain. But the report also showed that personal incomes, an indicator of future spending, dropped by a larger-than-expected 1.3 percent.

Among the day's earnings news, homebuilder D.R. Horton Inc. reported a smaller loss than the same period a year ago, beating Wall Street's estimates. Toyota posted a smaller-than-expected quarterly loss and said it expects narrower losses for the full year. That came a day after U.S. automakers reported better sales for July thanks to the government's wildly successful cash for clunkers program.

Stock 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. Those 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 late morning trading, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 22.22, or 0.2 percent, to 9,264.34. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 4.42, or 0.4 percent, to 998.21, while the Nasdaq composite index fell 9.10, or 0.5 percent, to 1,999.51.

A service of YellowBrix, Inc.