*

US stocks fall in early trading

*

Gold tumbles again after sharpest fall in over 5 years

*

Netflix ( NFLX ) shares drop after disappointing outlook

(Updates to late morning)

By Caroline Valetkevitch

NEW YORK, Oct 22 (Reuters) - Gold prices declined again

on Wednesday, a day after spot gold had its sharpest single-day

drop in over five years, while major stock indexes mostly eased

with Netflix ( NFLX ) shares down after the company's outlook

disappointed.

Gold, one of the year's best-performing trades, slid as

investors booked profits. It remains on course for its strongest

year since the 1979 oil crisis and is up more than 50% so far

this year. Spot gold was last down 1.73% at $4,052.69 an

ounce.

Shares of Netflix ( NFLX ) were down more than 9% in early trading,

and Wall Street's three major indexes also were lower. Investors

are getting ready for results later from Tesla, which

will kick off earnings season for the so-called Magnificent

Seven group of megacap stocks. Tesla shares were down about 1%.

"We've seen a lot of volatility in the markets lately. It's

both on the upside and on the downside, and that shows a degree

of uncertainty in the market," said Tim Ghriskey, senior

portfolio strategist at Ingalls & Snyder in New York.

"We are in earnings season, and that always means

uncertainty," he said. "Tariff issues are still out there. War

in the Middle East is still out there as an issue. We try to

focus on companies themselves and how they are doing."

Russia said on Wednesday that it was still preparing for a

potential summit between President Vladimir Putin and U.S.

President Donald Trump.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 118.69 points,

or 0.25%, to 46,806.05, the S&P 500 fell 22.73 points, or

0.33%, to 6,713.39 and the Nasdaq Composite fell 165.07

points, or 0.70%, to 22,791.98.

MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe fell

2.63 points, or 0.26%, to 992.22. The pan-European STOXX 600

index rose 0.07%.

London stocks rose for a third consecutive day as investors

increased bets on interest rate cuts from the Bank of England

after data showed inflation unexpectedly held steady. The

blue-chip FTSE 100 gained 1.1%.

U.S. Treasury yields edged higher after falling for two

straight sessions, though the market was range-bound as the U.S.

government shutdown went into its 22nd day with no resolution in

sight. The yield on benchmark U.S. 10-year notes

rose 1.1 basis points to 3.974%, from 3.963% late on Tuesday.

The U.S. Federal Reserve also meets next week, and investors

have almost fully priced in a 25-basis-point rate cut.

The dearth of U.S. economic data due to the ongoing shutdown

means that policymakers could be left flying blind at the

meeting, a less-than-ideal situation as they remain divided over

which risks deserve the most attention. Trump on Tuesday

rebuffed a request by top Democratic lawmakers to meet until the

three-week-old U.S. government shutdown ends.

The yen was little changed against the dollar. Sources told

Reuters that new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is preparing an

economic stimulus package likely to exceed last year's 13.9

trillion yen ($92.19 billion) to help households tackle

inflation.

The Bank of Japan also meets next week, where expectations

are for the central bank - like the ECB in Europe - to stand pat

on rates.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback

against a basket of currencies including the yen and the euro,

fell 0.01% to 98.96, with the euro up 0.01% at $1.16.

Against the yen, the dollar strengthened 0.01% to 151.94.

Oil prices rose, with U.S. crude up 2.45% at $58.64 a

barrel and Brent at $62.64 per barrel, up 2.15% on the

day.