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Wall Street down as S&P hovers near key technical level (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Wall Street stocks fell on Wednesday as the S&P 500 struggled to break through a key technical level after an unexpected decline in durable goods orders weighed on market sentiment.

The S&P hovered around its 200-day simple moving average for a third session running, with investors struggling to define it as the top of a recent rally or a consolidation point ahead of further gains.

"We had a big run up to the 200-day moving average, and there's a little uncertainty about where we move from here," said Peter Boockvar, equity strategist at Miller Tabak & Co in New York.

"We ran into some resistance and need some more information about the economy and earnings."

The Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI) dropped 25.65 points, or 0.24 percent, to 10,512.04. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index (.SPX) fell 4.05 points, or 0.36 percent, to 1,109.79. The Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC) lost 8.46 points, or 0.37 percent, to 2,279.79.

New orders for long-lasting U.S. manufactured goods unexpectedly fell for a second straight month in June, posting their largest decline since August.

Boeing Co (BA.N) reported a higher-than-expected quarterly profit but forecast full-year earnings slightly below Wall Street's consensus estimate, and its shares fell 1.9 percent to $67.31.

Defense contractor General Dynamics Corp (GD.N) and ConocoPhillips (COP.N), the third-largest U.S. oil company, both posted a better-than-expected quarterly profits. General Dynamics shares rose 0.8 percent to $62.24, and ConocoPhillips shares edged up 0.4 percent to $54.63

(Editing by Padraic Cassidy)

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