U.S. Stocks Mostly Lower After Negative Economic Data

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks on Thursday opened higher only to quickly lose ground after data cast a negative light on U.S. economic growth, with only technology maintaining momentum from Citigroup Inc.'s upgrade of Cisco Systems Inc. and Research In Motion Ltd.'s upbeat forecast.

After rising about 70 points, the Dow Jones Industrial Average trimmed its gains, recently falling 37.61 points to 12,389.65.

Of the Dow's 30 components, 16 were trading in the red, with technology shares leading the advance. Microsoft Corp. gained 0.5%, while Intel Corp. was up 1%.

The S&P 500 fell 4.92 points to 1,355.12, while the Nasdaq Composite edged 0.22 points ahead to 2,327.32.

The technology sector drew support from Citigroup's upgrade of Cisco from hold to buy, with shares of the computer-networking equipment maker recently up 2.7%.

Also, Research In Motion climbed 9.4% after the maker of the BlackBerry said it expects net subscriber account additions in the fourth quarter to be 15% to 20% higher than the 1.82 million it had previously forecast.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude oil for April delivery, the new front-month contract, declined 40 cents to $99.3 a barrel. On Wednesday, March crude rallied to a new closing high of $100.74 a barrel.

Gold for April delivery surged to a record $952.40 an ounce, with the contract more recently up $13.5 at $951.3 an ounce. April platinum futures also hit a record, climbing as high as $2,194.80 an ounce, and stood lately at $2,158.5 an ounce, up $19.7, or 0.9%.

The dollar was lower against major counterparts, with the dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six currencies, at 75.75, down from 76.143 on Wednesday.

Volume on the New York Stock Exchange came to 358 million with nearly four stocks declining on the exchange for every three that fell. On the Nasdaq, volume topped 298 million, and decliners ran just ahead of advancing stocks.

Bears report

The stock indexes pared back their opening advance in the wake of data that included the Conference Board's report of a 0.1% decline in January in its index of leading U.S. economic indicators, with the index's fourth consecutive decline driven by weaker stock prices and housing data.

Separately, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia reported manufacturing in the region weakened further in February, with the Philly Fed diffusion index falling to -24 in February. The index had plunged to -20.9 in January from -1.6 in December. Readings below zero indicate contraction. The decline was unexpected. Economists were expecting the index to improve to -10.

Ahead of Thursday's opening bell, stock futures briefly added to gains after the government reported a drop in weekly U.S. jobless claims, but they settled back to previous levels soon after. The Labor Department also revised the previous week's claims count higher, offering up a mixed view of the employment picture. .

"The continued deterioration in this series suggests that firms have moved from not hiring to outright firing. We look for nonfarm payrolls to rise by a paltry 35,000 in February," said Drew Matus, an economist at Lehman Brothers.

Stocks had another roller-coaster session on Wednesday, closing higher as investors shrugged off U.S. economic data that signaled rising inflation.

By Kate Gibson