US STOCKS-Indexes Edge Lower As Investors Mull Slow Recovery

U.S. stocks fell on Friday, rebounding for a second day in a row from more substantial losses, as concerns about slower economic growth held trading to a tight range.

Stocks were down by 1 percent early in the session after the release of data showing U.S. gross domestic product growth slowed in the second quarter. A separate report later showed business activity in the U.S. Midwest grew more than expected this month, spurring buying that helped equities rebound.

The S&P 500 Index has found support in the 1,088 to 1,090 range as economic data have come in mixed but earnings have shown strength.

“We’re reading through each piece of data to see if we’re on the upper end or the lower end of the trading range,” said Joseph Battipaglia, market strategist with Stifel Nicolaus in Yardley, Penn. “So you have a market today that is not breaking in either direction with any conviction.”

The Dow Jones industrial average was down 46.17 points, or 0.44 percent, at 10,420.99. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index was down 4.22 points, or 0.38 percent, at 1,097.31. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 4.94 points, or 0.22 percent, at 2,246.75.

Chevron Corp, the second-largest U.S. oil company, reported a three-fold jump in quarterly profit, topping Wall Street’s forecast, but its revenue was below the average analysts estimate, pushing shares down 0.7 percent at $75.48.

U.S. drugmaker Merck & Co reported a profit that beat analysts’ estimates, but its sales were less than Wall Street’s expectations, and the stock fell 2.1 percent to $34.31.

In the Commerce Department’s first estimate of economic growth for the second quarter, U.S. GDP expanded at a 2.4 percent annual rate, driven by capital investment, but the expansion was down from the first quarter’s revised 3.7 percent rise.

“We think we’ll settle into a slower pace of growth than we had expected,” said Jason Pride, director of investment strategy at Glenmede Investment and Wealth Management in Philadelphia.

U.S. consumer sentiment plunged in July to its lowest level since November 2009 on bleak prospects for jobs and income a year since the economic recovery began, according to the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan’s Surveys of Consumers.

The Institute for Supply Management-Chicago business barometer, however, showed businesses boosted employment and orders.

The PHLX Semiconductor index was down 1 percent after slumping on Thursday on slashed outlooks from technology companies Nvidia Corp and Symantec Corp.

The S&P 500 and Dow were on track for their best month in a year, bouncing back from a sharp sell-off through May and June. The Nasdaq was set for its best month since March. By Matthew Lynley, The Guardian