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Sears Holdings Corp., the biggest U.S. department-store company, and Home Depot Inc. said profit will fall as the decline in housing prices hurts demand for goods to build and furnish homes.

The traditional spring home-selling season also was a bust for D.R. Horton Inc., one of the biggest nationwide homebuilders, which warned Tuesday that it will post a loss from operations for its latest quarter after net orders fell 40 percent and it wrote down the value of unsold houses.

''We're seeing the effects of the housing market ripple through the consumer segment,'' said Jim Dorment, who helps manage $265 billion, including Sears and Home Depot shares, at U.S. Trust Corp. in New York.

The biggest U.S. housing slump in 16 years - while sparing Utah at this point - has reduced spending on big-ticket items, causing appliance sales to decline. Home Depot also attributed part of its problems to the planned sale of its contractor-supplies unit.

Sears said that second-quarter net income will be $160 million to $200 million, down as much as 46 percent from $294 million a year earlier.

Home Depot, the world's largest home-improvement retailer, said earnings per share may drop as much as 18 percent in the year through Feb. 3. Sales may decline for the first time ever, the company said.

Shares of Sears plunged the most in more than four years, falling $17.20, or 10 percent, to $154.21 in Nasdaq Stock Market composite trading. Shares of Home Depot rose 2 cents, to $40.25, on the New York Stock Exchange, the only stock that gained among 29 members of the Standard & Poor's 500 Retailing Index.

Sales at U.S. retailers may have posted the smallest June gain in 16 years as a sluggish housing market prompted consumers to limit spending.

Sales at stores open more than 12 months may have risen 1.5 percent to 2 percent, the International Council of Shopping Centers and UBS Securities LLC said. The advance may be the smallest for the month since a 1.2 percent gain in 1991, according to ICSC data.

''Anything that touches the house, we're starting to see weakness,'' said Steve Neimeth, who manages $850 million, including Home Depot shares, at AIG SunAmerica Asset Management in Jersey City, N.J. ''We're hearing from so many consumer companies that sales are coming up weak.''

U.S. home sales in 2007 will fall to their lowest level since the start of the five-year housing boom in 2001 as mortgage rates and foreclosures increase, according to a forecast by Freddie Mac. Sales remain comparatively solid in Utah, though rates of appreciation have slowed somewhat and permits for new housing have plateaued in some areas.

D.R. Horton Inc. said it sees no sign of a national housing rebound this year.

At Sears, sales during the first nine weeks of the quarter fell in most categories at its Kmart unit. Revenue from appliances declined at Sears, while women's clothing posted sales gains, reversing last year's performance. Footwear sales increased.

Same-store sales have dropped since Chairman Edward Lampert combined the Kmart and Sears, Roebuck & Co. chains in 2005.