GDP and Consumer confidence do little to change Dow

A selloff in tech stocks and buying in consumer products left Wall Street little changed today as investors tried to reconcile conflicting economic data - a surprisingly strong gross domestic product figure and a drop in a consumer confidence measure.

The major indexes ended the month mixed, stalling an 11-month rally, and the Nasdaq composite index suffered its first monthly decline since September.

The day’s trading continued the listless pattern that marked Wall Street’s performance throughout February. Strong, early gains were eroded by profit-taking on tech stocks, but the markets recovered somewhat by the afternoon.

“We saw some selling in semiconductors that took everything with it, but there’s no real reason behind it,” said Larry Wachtel, market analyst at Wachovia Securities. ”It’s a quirky kind of market.”

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 3.78, or 0.04%, to 10,583.92. The Dow ended the week 0.3% lower, its second straight weekly decline.

The broader gauges were narrowly mixed. The technology-focused Nasdaq composite index lost 2.75, or 0.1%, at 2,029.82, finishing the week 0.4% lower, the sixth straight down week for the index.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index was up 0.03, or 0%, at 1,144.94. It was up less than 0.1% for the week after last week’s loss.

For the month of February, the Nasdaq lost 1.8%. The Dow gained 0.9% and the S&P 500 climbed 1.2% – the fifth straight monthly advance for both indexes.

February lived up to its reputation as the weakest month for the stock market. But in spite of widespread expectations that stocks could retreat during the month, there was still disappointment that Wall Street’s rally of the past year had gone into at least a temporary limbo.

Today, traders were pleased by the Commerce Department’s report that the economy grew by an unexpected 4.1% annual rate in the last quarter of 2003. The government’s latest GDP data – the broadest measure of the economy’s health - beat the 3.8% growth forecast by economists. GDP reflects the value of all goods and services produced within the United States.

Initially, Wall Street did not seem dissuaded by the University of Michigan’s latest consumer confidence report. The school’s consumer sentiment index for February slid to 94.4, versus 103.8 in January. The reading was in line with Wall Street expectations, however.

PeopleSoft Inc lost 20 cents to 21.58 on news that the Justice Department is seeking to block a hostile 9.4 billion bid by its larger rival, Oracle. The government’s suit contends the merger would stifle competition in the business software market. Oracle slipped 41 cents to 12.87.

Four Seasons Hotels dropped 1.70 to 54.00. The luxury hotels chain’s fourth-quarter earnings rose 53%, but said revenues were down slightly due to terrorism and Sars concerns. The company gave an upbeat outlook for 2004, however.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by more than 2 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume totalled 1.5 billion shares, compared with 1.38 billion at the same point on Thursday.

The Russell 2000 index, which tracks smaller company stocks, was up 1.70, or 0.3%, at 585.56.