Mixed economic data leads to muted week for US markets

US stocks finished a week of mixed economic data with a split decision as the tech-rich Nasdaq scored gains while the other two indices retreated from records. The Dow shed 95.24 points (0.56 per cent) at the weekend to finish at 16,851.84, while the S&P 500 dipped 1.91 (0.10 per cent) to 1,960.96. Both indices finished the previous week at record highs. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 29.89 (0.68 per cent) to 4,397.93. The tech-rich index picked up momentum in part due to the highly successful initial public offering of action video camera maker GoPro, which gained nearly 50 per cent from its IPO price in its first two days of trade. Analysts said stocks were still fairly well positioned for further gains given confidence in the economic recovery and somewhat lower anxiety on Iraq, as evidenced by an ebbing of fuel oil prices. Last week's most dramatic bit of data was Wednesday's report that US gross domestic product fell at a 2.9 per cent annual pace in the first quarter of 2014, much worse than the previous estimate of 1.0 per cent and the sharpest decline in five years. Analysts, while shocked at the report, said it had minimal implications for capital markets. ‘It was a surprise,’ said Bill Lynch, director of investment at Hinsdale Associates. ‘But it should really be irrelevant because it’s in the past.’ Among other data, reports showed new home sales in May reached their fastest pace in six years and that US consumer confidence in June jumped to its highest level since January 2008. But US consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of US economic activity, rose a mere 0.2 per cent in May after a flat April. Analysts were also disappointed at 1.0 per cent drop in durable goods orders for May. The week's corporate news included more takeovers, which have helped propel the broader market in 2014, analysts said, according to AFP.