April 01, 2007	Sunday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 12, 1428

NEW YORK, March 31: Wall Street wobbled to a mixed finish on Friday as better-than-expected economic data was offset by worries that US trade sanctions slapped on China might spark growing protectionism.

Trading was volatile as investors made portfolio adjustments on the final trading day of the first quarter, and renewed fears about inflation dampened enthusiasm from robust economic reports.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up a scant 5.60 points (0.05 per cent) at 12,354.35, after zig-zagging for most of the session.

The Nasdaq composite gained 3.76 points (0.16 per cent) to 2,421.46 while the broad-market Standard and Poor's 500 index shed 1.67 points (0.12 per cent) to close at 1,420.86.

The market opened on an upbeat note after the Commerce Department said US consumer spending and personal income both rose 0.6 per cent in February, surprising analysts expecting hits from slowing economic conditions.

This was much stronger than expected and gets the first quarter GDP (gross domestic product) numbers off to a good start, said Dick Green at Briefing.com.

It suggests that real GDP growth is on track for the 2.5 per cent growth generally expected. It will allay recession fears. It also suggests that the problems in the housing sector aren't having broad impact yet.

But Nigel Gault, economist at Global Insight, said the figures were not as rosy when stripping out the inflation component of the report, with core prices up 2.4 per cent year-on-year.

The news on inflation was not comforting, he said.

Inflation is above the Federal Reserve's “comfort zone,” he noted, “and moving in the wrong direction.” This makes a cut in interest rates unlikely.

Also hurting sentient was a US government decision to approve duties on Chinese paper imports, which has piqued protectionist concerns, said analysts at Briefing.com.

The dollar took a hit on the news as the currency market regarded the measure as a negative for an economy that has enjoyed the benefits of cheaply-produced foreign goods, said Stephen Malyon at Scotiabank.

We expect our economy to ride on the coattails of a robust global economic expansion that should offset the fallout from the big recession in the housing market, he said.--AFP