New York March 18 (IANS) US stocks fluctuated between small gains and losses in the morning session on Friday as investors digested the newly-released economic data as well as corporate earnings reports.
By midday the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 8.14 points or 0.04 per cent to 20 926.41. The S&P 500 lost 0.86 point or 0.04 per cent to 2 380.52. The Nasdaq Composite Index edged down 0.31 point or 0.01 per cent to 5 900.45 Xinhua news agency reported.
US industrial production was unchanged in February following a 0.1 per cent decrease in January the Federal Reserve reported on Friday. In February manufacturing output moved up 0.5 per cent for its sixth consecutive monthly increase.
The January and February manufacturing gains mark the best two-month performance in three years reinforcing recent signs that domestic manufacturing is rebounding from recent lows as the global economy stabilizes and the dollar s rapid run-up dissipates said economic analyst Sophia Kearney-Lederman.
Meanwhile the preliminary reading of the consumer sentiment for March rose to 97.6 from 96.3 in February said the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan index of consumer sentiment on Friday.
Investors also kept a close eye on the meeting of G20 finance ministers and central bank governors which kicks off in Germany s Baden-Baden on Friday.
On Thursday US stocks pared early gains to close mixed as investors continued to assess the impacts of the Fed s rate hike decision.
--IANS
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US stocks waver narrowly amid data, earnings
