NEW YORK (Associated Press) - A dip in international tourism will crimp Tiffany & Co.'s sales momentum, an analyst said Friday, while cutting her rating on the high-end jewelry retailer to "Sell."

Bank of America Securities analyst Dana E. Cohen expects Tiffany's U.S. trends to soften as airlines cut flights to New York and other tourist destinations.

Consumers in the U.S. have been holding the line on spending because of rising food and gas prices, along with a tightening credit market.

Tiffany's New York flagship store accounts for 20 percent of U.S. sales, said Cohen, who noted that international traffic to and from the Big Apple should decline by 19 percent by the 2009 second quarter. This clearly has potential to hurt momentum at the store, Cohen said.

"We estimate that Tiffany's U.S. comps could be negatively affected by 1.5 percent to 4 percent over the coming quarters _ purely driven by the reduction in tourist traffic," Cohen wrote in a client note.

Cohen reiterated that the second quarter, which Tiffany's reports next month, should be fine, with trends remaining solid.

"The issues we discuss would likely come into play beginning in the second half and continuing into next year," Cohen wrote.

Despite a "flagging" economy, Cohen still likes the company long-term, partly for its diversification into growing markets.

Cohen, whose previous rating on the stock was "Neutral," lowered her price target by $6 to $33, which implies downside of 14.7 percent to Thursday's close of $38.70.

Shares of Tiffany declined $1.37, or 3.5 percent, to $37.33 in midday trading.