* Bristol-Myers, Texas Instruments fall on outlooks
* August home prices fall, Oct. consumer confidence up
* Indexes: Dow off 0.02 pct, S&P off 0.08, Nasdaq up 0.3 (Updates to late afternoon, changes byline)
By Chuck Mikolajczak
NEW YORK, Oct 26 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks were little changed on Tuesday as investors held steady under a raft of earnings in anticipation of next week's U.S. elections and likely announcement of a new economic stimulus program from the Federal Reserve.
The broader equities market edged lower after weak revenue forecasts from drugmaker Bristol-Myers Squibb Co and chip manufacturer Texas Instruments Inc.
Bristol-Myers fell 1.5 percent to $26.74 and Texas Instruments shed 0.4 percent to 28.86. The NYSE Arca Pharmaceutical index lost 1 percent and the PHLX Semiconductor index dipped 0.4 percent.
But losses were curbed by gains in the consumer discretionary sector, after The Conference Board's measure of U.S. consumer confidence rose more than expected. The S&P Consumer Discretionary index rose 0.5 percent, led by a 13.2 percent jump in Coach Inc after the upscale leather goods maker posted better-than-expected results.
The mixed bag of earnings deterred investors from moving into or out of riskier assets in light of the uncertainty provided by next week's events, which could include election results that lead to political gridlock and the expected stimulus from the Fed.
"You have a double whammy next week, Election Day and the Fed announcement," said Doug Roberts, chief investment strategist at Channel Capital Research.com in Shrewsbury, New Jersey.
"You've got a huge overhang. Earnings are important, but they are not going to be the driving force."
The Dow Jones industrial average shed 1.86 points, or 0.02 percent, to 11,162.19. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index slipped 0.99 points, or 0.08 percent, to 1,184.63. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 7.27 points, or 0.29 percent, to 2,498.12.
U.S. Steel Corp, AK Steel Holdings Corp and ArcelorMittal, the world's No. 1 steelmaker, all sold off after reporting results. Both U.S. Steel and ArcelorMittal also forecast a soft patch extending to the end of the year.
U.S. Steel shed 3.7 percent to $40.69, while AK Steel slumped 4.1 percent to $12.82. The S&P Materials index dipped 0.4 percent.
DuPont and Co's earnings beat expectations and the chemicals giant raised its full-year profit view. Still, shares of the Dow component fell 1.6 percent to $46.95 after hitting a two-year high on Monday.
Tuesday's gainers included Ford Motor Co rose 1.4 percent to $14.35 and touched a six-month high after quarterly profit topped estimates and it paid down a big chunk of debt.
Dow component International Business Machines Corp added 0.5 percent to $140.56 after boosting its stock buyback program.
Earlier, data showed single-family home prices fell for the second straight month in August, hovering near recent lows after the expiration of homebuyer tax credits.