Dow +8.10 at 12402.76, Nasdaq +21.54 at 2782.92, S&P +5.22 at 1325.69

[BRIEFING.COM] Performances among the major equity averages varied today. Data were generally disappointing.

Stocks traded near the neutral line in the early going. The tepid tone came amid mixed action abroad and news that the second estimate of first quarter GDP showed growth of 1.8%, which is unchanged from the advance reading, but less than the 2.0% growth rate that had been expected among economists surveyed by Briefing.com.

Initial jobless claims for the week ended May 21 totaled 424,000. Not only is that up by 10,000 from the prior week, but it exceeds the 400,000 initial claims that had been widely expected.

The dollar was down markedly this morning, but that didn’t seem to matter too much to traders in the wake of the data. The greenback pared its loss as the session progressed, but it was still down 0.5% against a basket of competing currencies at the close of trade.

After struggling to find direction for the first couple of hours, stocks began a gradual climb higher. Microsoft (MSFT 24.67, +0.48) and NetApp (NTAP 55.31, +3.58) led the tech-rich Nasdaq. Shares of MSFT were helped by favorable comments about the stock from hedge fund manager David Einhorn while NTAP was aided by a satisfactory quarterly report.

The S&P 500 managed to make a modest advance with help from consumer discretionary stocks (+0.8%) after Tiffany & Co. (TIF 76.04, +6.00) and Guess? (GES 44.57, +4.47) reported impressive quarterly results. Other retailers shared in their strength, such that the SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT 53.23, +0.87) ascended to a weekly high.

The Dow ended the day at the unchanged mark. Despite strength in MSFT shares, other blue chips traded in mixed fashion.

Small-cap stocks outperformed again. For the second straight session their strength has sent the Russell 2000 to a gain in excess of 1%.

Share volume remains sluggish. The anemic pace will most likely continue tomorrow since many traders will take off early to get a jump on the long, Memorial Day weekend.

Treasuries attracted strong support and closed near session highs. The climb sent the yield on the benchmark 10-year Note down to 3.06%, which makes for a new 2011 low. Gains were helped along in the wake of an auction of 7-year Notes that drew a bid-to-cover of 3.20, dollar demand of $94.0 billion — the highest since early 2010 — and an indirect bidder participation rate of 47.6%.

Advancing Sectors. Consumer Discretionary (+0.8%), Tech (+0.6%), Telecom (+0.6%), Energy (+0.5%), Financials (+0.5%), Industrials (+0.4%), Materials (+0.2%), Consumer Staples (+0.2%)

Declining Sectors. Health Care (-0.1%), Utilities (-0.1%)

. Nasdaq 100 +0.7%. S&P Midcap 400 +0.9%. Russell 2000 +1.2%.

15:45 ET

Dow +22.82 at 12417.02, Nasdaq +24.78 at 2786.16, S&P +6.62 at 1327.09

[BRIEFING.COM] July natural gas shed 1.3% to close at $4.36 per MMBtu. This morning’s inventory data, which showed a larger than expected build, sent natural gas prices to session lows at $4.23. They were able to rebound off those lows to close near levels seen heading into the data. July crude oil settled lower by 1.1% to $100.23 per barrel.

15:00 ET

Dow +39.05 at 12433.71, Nasdaq +25.35 at 2786.73, S&P +7.32 at 1327.79

[BRIEFING.COM] Stocks have stretched to marginally improved session highs. Today’s move extends yesterday’s advance, which was the first gain for the stock market in four sessions.

14:30 ET

Dow +9.95 at 12404.61, Nasdaq +16.52 at 2777.90, S&P +3.48 at 1323.95

[BRIEFING.COM] Consumer discretionary (+0.8%), telecom (+0.8%), and tech (+0.6%) are today’s top performing sectors. At the other end of the spectrum, health care (-0.1%), utilities (+0.1%), and consumer staples stocks (+0.1%) are the worst performing sectors of the session.