U.S. stocks were little changed in afternoon trading on Friday, taking a breather after recent record highs and a six-day streak of gains, though consumer shares were strong for a second session, Reuters reported. The gains in consumer stocks were offset by declines in healthcare and real estate stocks, though all three major indexes were on track to gain for the week after declining for two straight weeks. Earlier in the day, a report showed that the U.S. economy grew at a 1.2 percent pace in the first quarter, slightly more than the 0.7 percent estimated earlier. The higher reading was in line with economists' expectations. Investors said trading was slow on Friday, ahead of an extended U.S. holiday weekend for Memorial Day. Helping the consumer staples index, shares of Costco Wholesale rose 1.8 percent to $177.99 and was among the biggest drivers of the S&P and Nasdaq indexes, after the warehouse club operator reported results Thursday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.4 points at 21,082.55, the S&P 500 gained 0.39 points, or 0.02 percent, to 2,415.46 and the Nasdaq Composite added 1.98 points, or 0.03 percent, to 6,207.23. The S&P 500 rose for a sixth straight day on Thursday, its longest streak since February. The consumer staples index rose 0.2 percent and the consumer discretionary index also was up 0.2 percent. Ulta Beauty jumped 3.3 percent, the second most on the S&P, after the company raised its full-year forecast. Deckers Outdoor Corp rose as much as 21 percent to a nine-month high after reporting a surprise quarterly profit. Among the laggards, GameStop fell 8.2 percent to $21.68 as the videogame retailer left its full-year earnings forecast unchanged despite beating profit estimates. Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 1.12-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.29-to-1 ratio favored decliners. The S&P 500 posted 55 new 52-week highs and 8 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 90 new highs and 55 new lows.
