国际英语新闻：Wall Street trades flat after mixed data

NEW YORK, July 30 (Xinhua) -- Wall Street traded flat on Friday as investors weighed mixed messages in economic reports.

U.S. stocks opened lower on Friday after second-quarter GDP data showed the economy was expanding at a slower-than-expected pace.

The Commerce Department said in its first estimate that real gross domestic product, the broadest measure of the economy, increased at an annual rate of 2.4 percent in the second quarter of 2010, lower than the 2.5-percent growth pace economists had expected.

The figure was especially discouraging after the GDP growth was revised sharply higher from 2.7 percent to 3.7 percent in the January-to-March period, adding to concerns over the recovery's strength.

Investors found some relief after the University of Michigan/ Reuters consumer sentiment index for July rose slightly more than expected to 67.8 from a preliminary reading of 66.5.

Meanwhile, the Chicago Purchasing Managers Index, which measures manufacturing activity in the Midwest, rose unexpectedly to 62.3 this month from 59.1 in June.

The Dow Jones industrial average was down 1.22 points, or 0.01 percent, to 10,465.94. The Standard & Poor's 500 index was up 0.07 points, or 0.01 percent, to 1,101.60 while the Nasdaq added 3.01 points, or 0.13 percent, to 2,254.70.

The dollar rebounded against the euro from 12-week low in New York markets. In the late trading, the euro fell to 1.3053 dollars from 1.3079 dollars on Thursday.

Oil prices settled higher Friday after the government said the U.S. economic recovery slowed during the second quarter. Light, sweet crude for September delivery added 59 cents to settle at 78. 95 U.S. dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In London, Brent crude was up 59 cents at 78.18 dollars a barrel on the ICE futures exchange.