Stocks mixed despite
strong GDP report

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By Lisa Singhania
Associated Press

NEW YORK >> Wall Street ended the first quarter on a mixed note today, with tech stocks higher but blue chips faltering at the last minute as jittery investors braced them- selves for earnings reports due out next week.

Analysts attributed some of the market's meandering to low volume ahead of the Good Friday holiday, but said the larger impediment was fear that business profits won't improve enough to justify higher stock prices.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 22.97 at 10,403.94, falling back from an earlier gain of 75 and cutting short a two-session winning streak.

Broader stock indicators fared better. The technology-focused Nasdaq composite index rose 18.61 to 1,845.36. The Standard & Poor's 500 index was up 2.81 to 1,147.39.

Advancers outnumbered decliners nearly 3 to 2 on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,764 up, 1,382 down and 187 unchanged. Volume was light because of the Passover and Easter holidays, coming to 1.12 billion shares, compared with 1.17 billion yesterday.

The NYSE composite index edged up 0.58 to 600.43, the American Stock Exchange composite index rose 2.39 to 910.49 and the Russell 2000 index gained 0.61 to 506.46.

For the week, the Dow slipped 0.2 percent, the Nasdaq lost 0.3 percent, while the S&P fell 0.1 percent.

The performance was an appropriate finish to a difficult three-month period for the markets. Despite a rally in early March, which helped the Dow to a 3.8 percent gain for the first quarter, the Nasdaq lost 5.4 percent and the S&P was barely changed.

"Money managers are trying to balance out and adjust positions for the end of the quarter," said Todd Clark, head of listed equity trading at Wells Fargo Securities. "But a lot of people are just waiting. They have bought what they want to buy and they're sitting back and waiting for things to happen and to see if their stocks go up."

The tech sector, which had been out of favor in recent sessions, got a lift from stocks including Microsoft, which climbed 87 cents to $60.31.

Blue chips were more mixed. Boeing gained 92 cents to $48.25 on word of a significant order from KLM Royal Dutch Airlines. But 3M dropped $1.95 to $115.01 after Credit Suisse First Boston rated the stock a "hold," citing pricing pressures.

Although stocks still ended March higher -- rising 3 percent in the Dow, 6.6 percent in the Nasdaq and 3.7 percent in the S&P 500 -- the market lost momentum as the month advanced. After starting the month on an optimistic note, Wall Street's rally faltered on fears that the market has gotten ahead of itself.

Analysts say many on Wall Street are holding back until first-quarter earnings season, which begins next week, to see whether businesses are experiencing a rebound.

"Looking ahead, we're going to be watching earnings reports. But the focus won't be the results and what the companies did in January, February and March, but what they're going to do in April, May and June," said Bryan Piskorowski, market commentator at Prudential Securities.

Before the market opened, the Commerce Department reported that the U.S. economy grew at an annual rate of 1.7 percent during the last three months of 2001 -- its second revision from a figure initially reported as 0.2 percent.

Although the GDP data suggested that the recession might have been less harsh than feared, the news failed to inspire much buying because investors are more interested in the future, than in the last quarter of 2001.

Also today, a University of Michigan survey showed consumer sentiment increased from February to March, according to Dow Jones Newswires. But a Labor Department report showing new claims for unemployment insurance rose by 18,000 to 394,000 last week reminded Wall Street that business continues to struggle.