Wall St near flat as banks, Apple offset weak data

By Rodrigo Campos

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks were little changed on Thursday as disappointing economic data and outlooks from bellwethers like UPS were offset by a rise in regional banks.

Upbeat results from companies like Apple Inc appeased investors, helping limit the market's losses. The iPhone maker was among the Nasdaq's biggest boosts, up more than 3.5 percent.

United Parcel Service Inc lost 2.3 percent to $53.48 after it said profits were hurt by the economic downturn and gave a second-quarter view that was below expectations.

U.S. government data showed existing homes sales fell in March to a much lower-than-expected annual rate, while weekly initial jobless claims rose slightly more than expected.

Barring a surprise advance on Friday, Wall Street stocks are on track for their first weekly decline since early March.

"Data this morning was a slight disappointment," said Steve Goldman, market strategist at Weeden & Co in Greenwich, Connecticut.

"We've pulled back a bit after six weeks of gains (and) stocks may start to see some consolidation after gains of these magnitude," he said.

In early afternoon trading, the Dow Jones industrial average dropped 7.01 points, or 0.09 percent, to 7,879.56 points. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index dropped 0.59 points, or 0.07 percent, to 842.96. The Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 5.36 points, or 0.33 percent, to 1,640.76.