Removes repetition of "0.83%" in paragraph 11

By Stephen Culp

NEW YORK, Oct 15 (Reuters) -U.S. stocks turned lower on Tuesday as investors scrutinized a spate of corporate earnings while crude extended its slide due to easing supply worries and weakening demand.

The three major U.S. indexes hovered in early trading before heading lower, with the S&P 500 and the Dow easing back from Monday's record closing highs.

Financial firms Goldman Sachs GS.N, Citigroup C.N and Bank of America BAC.N all posted better-than-expected profit, while healthcare companies UnitedHealth UNH.N and Johnson & Johnson JNJ.N results underwhelmed investors.

"The stock market had a pretty strong day yesterday, and at the moment (stocks are) near all-time highs," said Tim Ghriskey, senior portfolio strategist Ingalls & Snyder in New York. "The focus here is on earnings ... and, as usual, earnings will be somewhat mixed."

"This is a waiting period and the market is stuck in neutral before we see more earnings reports," Ghriskey added.

Energy stocks .SPNY, pulled lower by sliding crude prices, suffered the steepest percentage drop.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 141.91 points, or 0.33%, to 42,923.71, the S&P 500 .SPX fell 20.63 points, or 0.35%, to 5,839.44 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC fell 146.31 points, or 0.79%, to 18,357.27.

European stocks edged away from Monday's two-week high, dragged lower by mining and energy stocks, while investors scrutinized corporate earnings and kept their focus on the European Central Bank's rate decision on Thursday.

MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe .MIWD00000PUS fell 3.29 points, or 0.36%, to 854.06.

The STOXX 600 .STOXX index fell 0.55%, while Europe's broad FTSEurofirst 300 index .FTEU3 fell 13.20 points, or 0.63%.

Emerging market stocks .MSCIEF fell 10.33 points, or 0.89%, to 1,149.73. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS closed 0.83% lower at 608.61, while Japan's Nikkei .N225 rose 304.75 points, or 0.77%, to 39,910.55.

Oil prices slid to a near two-week low, extending Monday's losses amid easing supply pressures arising from the conflict in the Middle East, and growing signs of weakening demand.

"Sliding oil prices are disinflationary and that’s a positive for the broader economy," Ghriskey said. "What you’re seeing now is the speculation that Middle East oil properties are going to be exempt from attack."

"And falling oil prices does say something about global demand."

U.S. crude CLc1 fell 5.11% to $70.05 a barrel and Brent LCOc1 fell to $73.71 per barrel, down 4.84% on the day.

Benchmark U.S. Treasury yields edged lower as the bond market resumed trading following its three-day Columbus Day weekend.

The yield on benchmark U.S. 10-year notes US10YT=RR fell 2.8 basis points to 4.045%, from 4.073% late on Friday.

The 30-year bond US30YT=RR yield fell 4.2 basis points to 4.3398% from 4.382% late on Friday.

The 2-year note US2YT=RR yield, which typically moves in step with interest rate expectations, rose 0.2 basis points to 3.943%, from 3.941% late on Friday.

The dollar was nominally lower against a basket of world currencies amid wagers that the Federal Reserve will proceed with modest rate cuts in the near term.

The dollar index =USD, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies including the yen and the euro, fell 0.07% to 103.11, with the euro EUR= down 0.06% at $1.0902.

Against the Japanese yen JPY=, the dollar weakened 0.37% to 149.16.

Gold gained traction as the dollar lost some momentum.

Spot gold XAU= rose 0.32% to $2,659.48 an ounce. U.S. gold futures GCc1 roseto $2,647.80 an ounce.

Reporting by Stephen Culp; Additional reporting by Harry Robertson in London and Stella Qiu in Sydney

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