US stocks mixed on economic news

Stocks were mixed in uneven trading on Wall Street today, with less-than-stellar economic data pressuring stocks and upbeat corporate news, including Johnson & Johnson’s US$25.4bn (€19.18bn) to buy Guidant Corporation, giving investors reasons to buy.

While the market’s overall trend remains higher, according to analysts, many investors repositioned their portfolios in advance of Friday’s quadruple-witching day – the quarterly expiration of index futures and options, as well as individual stock futures and options, that tends to add volatility to the market.

Johnson & Johnson’s deal for Guidant, the latest in a spate of merger activity on Wall Street, gave a slight boost to blue chips, though the rest of the market moved slightly lower on a mix of data that shed little light on the economy’s direction.

Analysts remained confident that the economy and the market would advance, however.

“The fundamentals remain on solid footing and I suspect the year-end rally is going to continue,” said Peter Cardillo, chief strategist with S.W. Bach & Co. ”Institutional investment adjustments will likely fuel the rally through the end of the year.”

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 14.19, or 0.13 %, to 10,705.64.