Stocks flat on dour economic data

Stocks on Wall Street were flat Thursday morning as investors contemplated a variety of negative economic reports. The Labor Department said first-time jobless claims rose by 34,000 to 386,000 in the week ending Saturday. The Conference Board said the U.S. leading indicators fell 0.3 percent to 95.6 in June, the third consecutive monthly decline. In a report that contained good and bad news, the National Association of Realtors said existing home sales fell 5.4 percent in June to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.37 million homes. Sales slowed, but tight supplies of homes on the market continued to push home prices higher. With a 6.6-month supply on the market at the current rate of sales, the national median home price in the month was $189,400, up 7.9 percent from a year earlier, the trade group said. Stocks were higher in Asia and Europe. In early afternoon trading on Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average shed 5.07 points, 0.04 percent, to 12,903.63. The Standard & Poor\'s 500 index added 0.21 points, 0.02 percent, to 1,372.99. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index gained 17.79 points, 0.6 percent, to 2,960.39. The benchmark 10-year treasury note fell 3/32 to yield 1.51 percent. The euro fell to $1.2265 from Wednesday\'s $1.2283. Against the yen, the dollar fell to 78.59 yen from 78.80 yen. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index added 0.61 percent, 68.81, to 8,795.55. In London, the FTSE 100 index climbed 0.5 percent, 28.42, to 5,714.19.