* 3M cuts outlook and weighs on industrials
* Motorola, Exxon rise after quarterly results
* Initial jobless claims fall unexpectedly
* Dow off 0.6 pct, S&P off 0.4 pct, Nasdaq off 0.5 pct (Updates to midday, changes byline)
By Ryan Vlastelica
NEW YORK, Oct 28 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks slid on Thursday after 3M Co cut its full-year outlook and pulled the industrial sector lower, but an unexpected drop in new jobless claims helped limit broader losses.
3M reported third-quarter earnings that slightly beat expectations, but costs related to recent acquisitions prompted it to trim its outlook. The stock tumbled 6.9 percent to $84.11 and was the Dow's top decliner.
Heavy equipment maker Caterpillar Inc, down 1.7 percent at $76.90, ranked as the second-heaviest weight on the Dow. The S&P Industrial Index fell 1.1 percent and was by far the biggest drag among S&P sectors.
New claims for unemployment benefits fell more than expected in the latest week, and this more encouraging read on the labor market, along with a weak dollar, gave stocks an early boost. However, investors remained cautious about making large bets ahead of the outcome of next Tuesday's mid-term election and the Federal Reserve's expected monetary easing. Fed policy-makers are set to meet on Tuesday and Wednesday.
"We don't know what's going to happen in the election or what the Fed is going to do, let alone how that's going to impact the dollar or commodities, so a lot of investors are laying low until then," said Timothy Harder, chief investment officer of Peak Capital Investment Services in Denver, Colorado.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 62.51 points, or 0.56 percent, to 11,063.77. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index dropped 4.63 points, or 0.39 percent, to 1,177.82. The Nasdaq Composite Index slipped 13.41 points, or 0.54 percent, to 2,489.81.
Bucking the downtrend was Dow component Exxon Mobil Corp, the largest U.S. corporation, which rose 0.7 percent to $66.16 after it reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit. Motorola Inc's profit also topped consensus, and the stock gained 2.1 percent to $8.26.
"Earnings have largely been strong, but the market isn't exuberant about them right now because we're all waiting for the big news next week," Harder said.
Anticipation of a Fed move has been a driver of recent market action as investors speculated over the size and time frame of further stimulus. Equity investors have bet that more easing will invigorate an economic recovery and lift asset prices. Since the beginning of September, the S&P 500 is up 12 percent.
Most leading economists expected the Fed to buy between $80 billion and $100 billion in assets per month under a new program to bolster the struggling economy, a Reuters poll found.
U.S.-listed shares of Research In Motion Ltd fell 1.5 percent to $54.95 after Oppenheimer cut its rating on the stock to "perform" from "outperform."
In deal news, Carlyle Group agreed to buy Syniverse
Technologies Inc for $2.6 billion while Stryker Corp
Shares of Syniverse surged 28.3 percent to $30.53 while Boston Scientific gained 0.2 percent to $6.32. (Reporting by Ryan Vlastelica; Editing by Jan Paschal)