RPT-Brazil stocks down, tracking U.S.; real dips

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SAO PAULO, June 16 (Reuters) - Brazilian stocks hit their lowest level since late May on Tuesday, tracking U.S. equities on a day in which conflicting economic indicators in the United States left investors without a clear direction.

The benchmark Bovespa index .BVSP dropped 1.59 percent to 51.205.78, reversing slight gains in the morning. That loss, combined with a 2.85 percent fall on Monday, took the index to its lowest point since May 26.

"The economic environment still hasn't consolidated enough for people to trust in a consistent recovery," said Newton Rosa, chief economist with Sao Paulo-based SulAmerica Investimentos.

U.S. government data on Tuesday showed that housing starts jumped 17.2 percent in May, the biggest leap in three months, fanning optimism of a quick jump-start to the battered global economy. For details, please see [ID:nN16262919].

Yet U.S. industrial production fell 1.1 percent in that same month and installed factory capacity fell to 68.3 percent, the lowest on records dating back to 1967. [ID:nN16264926].

The contrasting data underscored the tenuousness of any potential recovery in both the U.S. and the Brazilian economies, sowing caution among investors.

State-controlled oil company Petrobras (PETR4.SA) slumped 2.25 percent to 32.55 reais as oil CLc1 lost 0.34 percent in New York, erasing 2 percent gains earlier in the day.

Mining giant Vale (VALE5.SA) also fell, shedding 1.59 percent to 32.18 reais.