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NEW YORK: US stocks ended narrowly mixed on Friday amid conflicting signals on American consumer confidence, a critical barometer for the US economic recovery.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 12.85 points (0.12 percent) to 10,624.69, setting a four-session winning streak.
The Nasdaq composite fell 0.80 point (0.03 percent) to 2,367.66 while the broad-market Standard & Poor's 500 index finished essentially flat, off 0.25 point (0.02 percent) at 1,149.99.
The major indices traded in a tight range in negative territory for most of the session in relatively light trading volume.
"Sentiment continues to lack conviction as traders grapple with an unexpected rise in retail sales and the surprising deterioration in consumer sentiment, trying to gain some clarity of the economic horizon," Charles Schwab & Co. analysts said in a client note.
"Any enthusiasm that came from the retail report was stymied by the disappointing sentiment gauge, continuing the recent theme of lacklustre market action," they said.
At the market open, investors welcomed data showing retail sales unexpectedly rose for the second consecutive month in February but sentiment was dampened by a disappointing March consumer sentiment survey.
Retail and food service sales increased 0.3 percent in February despite severe winter storms, Commerce Department data showed, instead of the analysts' consensus forecast of a 0.2 percent decline.
The University of Michigan said its consumer confidence index fell to 72.5 in March from 73.6 in February, instead of the rise to 74.0 most analysts expected.
Stocks fell "victim to a surprising decline in consumer sentiment," Charles Schwab & Co. analysts said, adding the downward revision to the January's retail sales reading "took some luster off" February's report.
Investors were confused by the the conflicting readings, analysts said.
"Against this ambiguous backdrop - and thanks to a pullback among financial stocks - the major market indexes struggled to pick a direction, finishing not far from break-even," said Andrea Kramer at Schaeffer's Investment Research.
Among stocks in focus was fertiliser producer Terra Industries, which fell 1.22 percent to 46.33 dollars after sealing a 4.7-billion-dollar deal to be acquired by CF Industries, down 3.86 percent at 96.73 dollars.
The deal was reached after Norway's Yara International declined on Friday to raise its rival offer.
Financial stocks weakened after a court-appointed expert on Thursday blamed the collapse of investment bank Lehman Brothers in 2008 on its top management as well as audit firm Ernst & Young and banks Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase, raising concerns about the health of the financial system.
Citigroup plunged 5.02 percent to 3.97 dollars, JPMorgan Chase dipped 0.07 percent and Bank of America dropped 1.58 percent to 16.85 dollars.
Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer dropped 1.21 percent to 17.08 dollars after it announced an end to a phase-three trial for an experimental lung-cancer drug.
The bond market edged higher. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury bond dipped to 3.710 percent from 3.720 percent on Thursday and that on the 30-year bond fell to 4.633 percent from 4.659 percent. Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions. - AFP/de
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