US STOCKS-Wall St lower on weak data, slump in oil prices

* June consumer spending records smallest gain in four months

* Oil prices hit six-month low

* Tyson Foods (NYSE: TSN - news) falls after profit forecast cut

* Dow down 0.30 pct, S&P unchanged, Nasdaq up 0.16 pct (Adds details, changes comment, updates prices)

By Tanya Agrawal

Aug 3 (Reuters) - Wall Street was lower on the first trading day in August as oil prices touched a six-month low and data showed U.S. economy lost some momentum at the end of the second quarter.

Oil prices hit six-month lows, knocked by fresh evidence of growing oversupply and data highlighting slowing demand in China. Crude prices are now on course for their weakest third-quarter performance since the financial crisis in 2008.

Energy stocks were the biggest losers among the main S&P sectors, with Exxon Mobil (Swiss: XOM.SW - news) and Chevron (Swiss: CVX.SW - news) leading the losers. The companies also reported poor results on Friday.

In U.S. data, consumer spending recorded its smallest gain in four months, while the pace of growth in the U.S. manufacturing sector slowed in July. On Friday, wage data showed that U.S. labor costs in the second quarter rose the least in 33 years.

The spate of disappointing economic reports bolsters the argument that the Fed might wait until December to raise rates. Higher rates increase borrowing costs, leading to lower profits for corporations.

Investors have been scouring data - all eyes are now on the monthly jobs report that will be released on Friday - for clues regarding the timing of the first rate increase in nearly a decade. The U.S. Federal Reserve has said it will hike rates only when it sees a sustained recovery in the economy.

"The July (Fed) statement was pretty dovish and more so than anticipated, I wouldn't be shocked to see another delay and have the timing pushed back," said Paul Springmeyer, a senior portfolio manager at U.S. Bank.

Springmeyer noted that other research providers have also put the chances of a September rate hike at below 50 percent.

At 11:32 a.m. ET (1532 GMT) the Dow Jones industrial average was down 53.42 points, or 0.3 percent, at 17,636.44, the S&P 500 was up 0.32 points, or 0.02 percent, at 2,104.16 and the Nasdaq Composite was up 8.10 points, or 0.16 percent, at 5,136.38.

Nine of the 10 major S&P sectors were lower, with the utilities index being the lone gainer.

Investors are awaiting another batch of earnings this week - AIG, Allstate and General Growth Properties (NYSE: GGP - news) report after the market closes on Monday.

With more than half of the S&P 500 companies having reported their second-quarter results, analysts expect overall earnings to edge up 0.9 percent and revenue to decline 3.3 percent, according to Thomson Reuters (Dusseldorf: TOC.DU - news) data.

Tyson Foods shares fell 9.5 percent to $40.14 after the biggest U.S. meat processor cut its profit forecast for the year, citing export market disruptions in its beef business and high cattle costs.

Peabody Energy fell 7.5 percent to $1.11 as President Barack Obama prepares to unveil the final version of his plan to tackle greenhouse gases from coal-fired power plants.

Loews Corp fell 2.5 percent to $37.15 after the hotel, energy and financial services conglomerate reported a 44 percent drop in quarterly operating profit.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers on the NYSE by 1,610 to 1,283. On the Nasdaq, 1,509 issues fell and 1,140 advanced.

The S&P 500 index showed 22 new 52-week highs and 19 new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 61 new highs and 85 new lows. (Reporting by Tanya Agrawal; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)