U.S. Stocks Hold Ground

The market in New York is little changed early Thursday following the revision to first-quarter GDP. Oil prices and Treasury securities are declining.
By Sarina Penn ,

Updated from 9:23 a.m. EDT

Stocks in New York were staying close to the flat line early Thursday as a round of mostly in-line economic data failed to get traders out of the holding pattern they've been in since returning from the long weekend.

The

Dow Jones Industrial Average

was down 1 point at 12,593, and the

S&P 500

ticked up 2 points at 1392. The

Nasdaq Composite

was up 11 points to 2497.

Last time out, the broad indices went higher in the final hour to close out a choppy, light-volume session. At the end of the day, the Dow rose 47 points to 12,594, and the S&P 500 ended up 5 points at 1391. The Nasdaq tacked on 5 points to 2487.

One of the early points of focus was the Commerce Department's second report on U.S. gross domestic product for the first quarter. The initial reading indicated that GDP grew 0.6% from January through March, but the revision showed a 0.9% increase, matching analysts' forecast.

Separately, the Labor Department said initial jobless claims rose to 372,000, slightly ahead of the 370,000 estimate.

Investors were also dealing with news that Dallas

Federal Reserve

president Richard Fisher, a member of the central bank's Federal Open Market Committee, said interest rates could be hiked "sooner rather than later" if inflationary expectations continue to worsen, "even in the face of an anemic economic scenario."

The Fed has eased its overnight lending rate by 325 basis points since September. For his part, Fisher has a reputation as an inflation hawk who hasn't always been convinced about the necessity to lower rates.

The new day also saw commodities backing off early on, with crude recently losing $1.97 at $129.06 a barrel. Gold futures shed $19 to $881.50 an ounce. The U.S. dollar climbed 0.6% against the euro and firmed by 0.5% against the yen.

On the corporate side,

Sears Holdings

(SHLD)

swung to a surprise loss in the fiscal first quarter. Excluding items, the retailer lost 53 cents a share on dwindling revenue of $11.07 billion. Sears, which operates its namesake chain as well as Kmart, also added $500 million to its stock-buyback authorization. Shares were down 2.7%.

Big-box discount retailer

Costco

(COST) - Get Report

, meanwhile, said its earnings soared by nearly one-third to $295.1 million compared with a year earlier, when the company's bottom line was weighed down by a hefty charge. Costco topped analyst estimates for earnings and revenue. The stock moved up 0.8%.

Shares of Dow component

General Motors

(GM) - Get Report

were little changed following reports that the automaker is considering further restructuring moves, possibly lowering production or cutting unpopular vehicle lines. That follows another report this week that

Ford

(F) - Get Report

is looking to cut around 2,000 jobs.

Elsewhere, media reports said that the chief executives of United Airlines operator

UAL

(UAUA)

and

US Airways

(LCC)

are scheduled to meet today in order to discuss their potential merger. On Wednesday, news had surfaced that the proposed combination was falling apart.

Another gathering Wall Street will monitor is taking place at

Bear Stearns

(BSC)

, where shareholders are set to vote on the plan by

JPMorgan Chase

(JPM) - Get Report

to acquire the investment bank for $10 a share. Recently, Bear was up 14 cents at $9.52. JPMorgan was ticking higher.

Also,

Men's Wearhouse

(MW)

lost ground after the suits purveyor cut its full-year outlook. The retailer posted a shrinking profit for the most recent quarter and missed expectations.

Treasury prices were falling. The 10-year note was down 12/32 in price to yield 4.05%, and the 30-year bond was off 13/32 in price, yielding 4.72%.

The major overseas markets were mainly on the rise. In Asia, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 surged 3% overnight, and the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong climbed 0.6%. As for European exchanges, London's FTSE 100 rose 0.3%, and Germany's Xetra Dax ticked up 0.1%. The Paris Cac was better by 0.2%.

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