* U.S. Steel, AK Steel tumble after results
* Home prices fall, consumer confidence up
* Indexes: Dow up 0.1 pct, S&P flat, Nasdaq up 0.4 pct (Updates to midday, changes byline)
By Ryan Vlastelica
NEW YORK, Oct 26 (Reuters) - Soft commodity prices and disappointing results from the steel sector weighed on materials stocks on Tuesday, but a strong quarter at Ford kept spirits high about the earnings season.
Broader markets were little changed at midday as an encouraging reading on consumer confidence helped discretionary shares, offsetting the impact of weak revenue forecasts from drugmaker Bristol-Myers Squibb Co and chip manufacturer Texas Instruments Inc. Investors view top-line growth as an indicator of economic activity.
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.
So far this earnings season, "there haven't been many misses or drastic news to the downside, except for U.S. Steel," said Jay Suskind, senior vice president at Duncan-Williams in Jersey City, New Jersey.
"If economies continue to grow slowly while commodity prices rise, material companies like that could have some problems."
The Dow Jones industrial average was down 5.91 points, or 0.05 percent, at 11,158.14. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index slipped 0.18 points, or 0.02 percent, at 1,185.44. The Nasdaq Composite Index added 8.71 points, or 0.35 percent, at 2,499.56.
On the upside, Ford Motor Co rose 1.6 percent to $14.37 and touched a six-month high after quarterly profit topped estimates and it paid down a big chunk of debt.
Broadly, equities continued to take their cue from the U.S. dollar, which steadied with the dollar index up 0.6 percent. Stocks and the greenback have formed an inverse relationship, exacerbated by expectations the U.S. Federal Reserve will embark on another round of economic stimulus.
U.S. Steel shed 4 percent to $40.56, while AK Steel slumped nearly 5 percent to $12.72. The Dow Jones U.S. Steel index lost 2.1 percent, while the S&P Materials index dipped 0.5 percent.
Dow component International Business Machines Corp rose 0.6 percent to $140.74 after boosting its stock buyback program.
DuPont and Co's earnings beat expectations and the chemicals giant raised its full-year profit view. Still, shares of the Dow component fell 2 percent to $46.76.
Bristol-Myers was down 1.3 pct to $26.80, while Texas Instruments slipped 0.7 pct to $28.78.
Consumer confidence rose more than expected, helping discretionary shares, even as confidence remained near historically low levels. The S&P Consumer Discretionary index rose 0.5 percent.
Earlier, data showed single-family home prices fell for the second straight month in August, hovering near recent lows after the expiration of popular homebuyer tax credits.