New York ? NewThree pillars of the economy – consumer confidence, orders for manufactured goods and home prices – showed surprising cracks on Tuesday, flashing signals that growth may slow more heading into the important holiday shopping season.

The New York-based Conference Board said its widely watched consumer confidence index fell to 102.9 in November from a revised reading of 105.1 in October. November’s figure was the lowest since August’s 100.2 and well below economists’ expectations of a 106 reading.

That news arrived on the heels of a government report on durable goods that showed orders for big-ticket manufactured goods plunged 8.3 percent in October – the largest drop in more than six years.

And the median price of a home dropped to $221,000 in October, a decline of 3.5 percent from a year ago, according to the National Association of Realtors. It was the biggest year-over-year price decline on record for an asset that many Americans use as a gauge of their financial well-being. On the positive side, the group also reported that home sales rose, albeit slightly, for the first time in eight months.

The reports drew some air out of any inflated hopes for a robust holiday shopping season.

Consumers “are not feeling really good now,” said Gary Thayer, chief economist at A.G. Edwards & Sons Inc., though he added they’re feeling better compared with this past summer, when gasoline prices surged.

“We are still positive on the consumer sector. I think it will be a good holiday season,” he noted.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke made it clear Tuesday in his first speech in several months that policymakers want to see inflation continue to recede, which suggests the Fed probably won’t be cutting interest rates any time soon.

Nevertheless, Bernanke said “substantial uncertainties” surround the Fed’s outlook.

The stock market, rebounding from its worst session in four months, took its cue from the slight rise in home sales, rather than the declines in homes prices, consumer confidence or durable goods orders. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 14.74, or 0.12 percent, at 12,136.45, after falling 158 Monday.