* Materials, energy stocks weigh as oil drops 2.8 pct
* Existing home sales surge in December
* Indexes off: Dow 0.6 pct, S&P 0.8 pct, Nasdaq 1.2 pct
* For up-to-the-minute market news see [STXNEWS/US]
(Updates with housing data, quote)
By Angela Moon
NEW YORK, Jan 20 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks fell on Thursday
as upbeat economic data on jobs and housing failed to offset a
selloff in the technology and materials sectors.
Technology stocks were weighed by networking/cloud
computing companies after F5 Networks Inc <FFIV.O> gave a
gloomy outlook, while energy and material stocks were pressured
by a sharp decline in crude oil prices.
The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> dropped 74.13
points, or 0.63 percent, at 11,751.16. The Standard & Poor's
500 Index <.SPX> was down 9.72 points, or 0.76 percent, at
1,272.20. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> slid 32.31 points,
or 1.19 percent, at 2,693.05.
The decline came a day after Wall Street suffered its worst
drop in nearly two months on disappointing results from banks.
Investors were concerned the slump may grow worse.
"I do consider it to be the start of a something more,"
said Marc Pado, U.S. market strategist at Cantor Fitzgerald &
Co in San Francisco. "We're looking for a 5 percent to 7
percent pullback range, and I think we started it yesterday."
Crude oil futures <CLc1> fell 2.8 percent to $88.35 a
barrel.
Alcoa Inc <AA.N> was the biggest decliner on the Dow,
falling 2.5 percent to $15.66, while Exxon Mobil Corp <XOM.N>
gave up 1.4 percent to $77.14.
Among the networking/cloud stocks, F5 Networks tumbled
nearly 23 percent at $107.22, while Juniper Networks Inc
<JNPR.N> sank 6 percent to $34.67.
In the latest economic data, U.S. home resales jumped more
than expected in December despite bad weather as the sector
struggled to recover from a severe slump. For story, see
[ID:nN2090188], table [ID:nNYZLNE61J]
Also, U.S. initial jobless claims posted their biggest
weekly decline in nearly a year. [ID:nN19241129] and
[ID:nLLAKCE7AJ]
(Reporting by Angela Moon and Ed Krudy; editing by Jeffrey
Benkoe)