US STOCKS-Wall St flat as oil drops; GE gains

* Drop of $5 in oil's price hurts energy companies but eases inflation concerns

* Bernanke says Fed may extend emergency lending

* Housing sales data shows sharp drop in May (Updates to early afternoon)

By Deborah Jian Lee

NEW YORK, July 8 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks were little changed in a seesaw session on Tuesday as a pullback in oil prices calmed inflation concerns and rekindled optimism about corporate profits but sent energy shares lower.

A drop of more than 4 percent in U.S. crude CLc1 made energy companies the top drags on the S&P and the Dow.

Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) slid 1.8 percent to $85.42, Chevron Corp (CVX.N: Quote, Profile, Research) also fell 1.8 percent to $95.05, and oil services company Schlumberger (SLB.N: Quote, Profile, Research) declined 4.5 percent to $95.06.

General Electric (GE.N: Quote, Profile, Research) contributed the greatest upward momentum to the S&P 500, its shares gaining more than 2 percent just days before the economic bellwether releases its second-quarter earnings.

Large pharmaceutical companies in the S&P 500 .SPX also advanced, with Pfizer (PFE.N: Quote, Profile, Research) shares rising more than 3 percent. Shares of retail giant Wal-Mart (WMT.N: Quote, Profile, Research) gained around 2 percent. The Nasdaq edged up with help from Apple (AAPL.O: Quote, Profile, Research) and Google (GOOG.O: Quote, Profile, Research).