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US single-family housing starts tumble in July

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S&P 500, Nasdaq set for best week since October

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Indexes: Dow flat, S&P 500 down 0.06%, Nasdaq down 0.13%

(Updated at 11:31 a.m. ET/1531 GMT)

By Medha Singh and Shashwat Chauhan

Aug 16 (Reuters) -

The S&P 500 paused on Friday as investors digested a spate

of encouraging economic data that dispelled slowdown concerns

and put Wall Street's main indexes on course for their best

weekly performance this year.

Latest economic data was mixed. The Commerce

Department's report showed

U.S. single-family

homebuilding dropped to a near 1-1/2-year low in July,

while the University of Michigan's survey indicated

consumer sentiment

rose in August in line with expectations.

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq have nearly recouped all of their

losses from a rout that pushed the Nasdaq in correction

territory two weeks ago, as better-than-expected data calmed

nerves over a recession in the world's largest economy.

U.S. consumer and producer prices data this week indicated

inflation was moderating at a pace that would keep the Federal

Reserve on track to start its monetary easing cycle with a

25-basis point rate cut next month.

"The Goldilocks is very much intact. The disinflation is

happening, the consumer and job market are resilient and the

economy overall is doing pretty well. We are seeing some

softness but not weakness in jobless claims," said Scott

Acheychek, chief operating officer of REX Shares.

"We're shaping up for a nice soft landing so the pivot

right now is, what is the Fed thinking for September?"

Next week, market participants will look to minutes from

the Fed's last policy meeting and remarks from Fed Chair Jerome

Powell at the Jackson Hole symposium, an annual gathering of

global central bankers, for more clues on the rate cut

trajectory.

In an interview with National Public Radio, Chicago Fed

chief Austan Goolsbee said central bank officials should be wary

of keeping restrictive policy in place longer than necessary.

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq were headed for their

sharpest weekly percentage gains since October, while the Dow

was on pace for its best weekly showing since December.

At 11:31 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average

fell 4.90 points, or 0.01%, to 40,558.16, the S&P 500

lost 4.03 points, or 0.06%, to 5,539.67 and the Nasdaq

Composite lost 22.52 points, or 0.13%, to 17,571.98.

Applied Materials ( AMAT ) dropped over 3% following a

strong jump ahead of its results. The chip-making equipment firm

forecast fourth-quarter revenue slightly above Wall Street

estimates.

U.S.-listed shares of Amcor slipped 6% after the

packaging company reported a more-than-expected decline in

fourth-quarter sales, hurt by weaker demand for its containers

and cartons.

Shares of mpox vaccine developers Emergent BioSolutions ( EBS )

and GeoVax Labs ( GOVX ) climbed after cases of mpox

were reported outside Africa.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.34-to-1

ratio on the NYSE and by a 1.06-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 posted six new 52-week highs and no new

lows, while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 45 new highs and 61

new lows.