* Microsoft, Amazon results help limit Nasdaq losses
* Industrials weakened by railroads; energy slips
* Dow off 0.8 pct, S&P off 0.9 pct, Nasdaq off 0.05 pct (Updates to midday, changes byline)
By Leah Schnurr
NEW YORK, Oct 23 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks fell on Friday as weak industrial and energy shares overshadowed robust results from technology heavy-weights Microsoft and Amazon.com.
Energy shares slid as crude prices lost more than 1 percent to fall to around $80 a barrel on caution about demand and high inventory levels. Oilfield services company Schlumberger Ltd dropped 4 percent to $65.89 after it warned natural gas activity would remain weak until late 2010. Shares of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp, the second-biggest U.S. railroad, slid 6.4 percent to $79.18, after reporting a 30 percent drop in quarterly profit. The stock helped drag an S&P index of industrials down 1.5 percent.
But the Nasdaq fared better than the other indexes to trade flat after major earnings beats from Microsoft Corp and Amazon.com Inc. Both supported the Nasdaq, keeping it just below the break-even point as Microsoft jumped 6.8 percent to $28.40 and Amazon surged 24.3 percent to $116.17.
But the tech space was not without its dark spots. Disappointing results from Broadcom Corp and MEMC Electronic Materials Inc sent an index of semiconductors down 2.6 percent.
"You've got some very select leadership on the sector level from tech," said Craig Peckham, equity trading strategist at Jefferies & Company in New York.
"Energy and industrials are holding the broader market back. You've got a bit of profit taking after the big run up in crude."
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 76.41 points, or 0.76 percent, to 10,004.90. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index lost 9.70 points, or 0.89 percent, to 1,083.21. The Nasdaq Composite Index was off 1.10 points, or 0.05 percent, at 2,164.16.
In economic news, data showed sales of previously owned U.S. homes surged to their highest level in over two years in September, providing further evidence that the housing market was on the mend.
However, sales of both new and previously owned homes have been helped by a popular $8,000 government tax credit for first-time buyers and there are fears the expiration of the credit at the end of November could hamper the recovery.
"The reality is that there's some skepticism of how much of this is representative of true demand. People are asking themselves, absent the tax credit, would this type of activity be generated?" Peckham said. (Editing by Jan Paschal)