Listless US stocks meander slightly lower

Stocks in the United States meandered through a listless session today, ending lower as investors ignored generally benign economic data and looked ahead to 2006 with a mix of optimism and concern.

Wall Street was unmoved by the Labor Department’s latest take on unemployment, the only economic indicator released before the session. First-time jobless claims rose by an expected 4,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 322,000.