Sears posts quarterly loss; sales dip

* Loss/shr $0.35 vs. $0.79 loss year ago

* Sales fall $93 mln to $10.5 bln; miss estimate $10.6 bln

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Sears Holdings Corp reported a quarterly loss on Thursday as consumers curbed spending in a grim U.S. economy.

The operator of Sears department stores and Kmart discount stores said its net loss narrowed to $39 million, or 35 cents a share, in the second quarter ended July 31 from $94 million, or 79 cents a share, a year earlier.

Sales fell $93 million to $10.5 billion. That missed the analysts' average estimate of $10.6 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Earlier this week, the retailer's Canadian unit, Sears Canada, posted a 35 percent drop in quarterly profit. [ID:nN17126869] (Reporting by Dhanya Skariachan; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)