Friday, May 29, 2009

Stocks are mixed after the government said the economy shrank in the first quarter at a slower pace than initially estimated.

The Commerce Department said gross domestic product fell 5.7%, smaller than the 6.1% estimated last month. But the contraction is slightly larger than analyst forecasts, and personal spending was revised lower.

In the first minutes of trading Friday, the Dow Jones industrial average is up 21.11 points, or 0.3%, at 8,424.91. The Standard & Poor's 500 index is up 1.86, or 0.2%, at 908.69. But the Nasdaq composite index is down 0.39, or less than 0.01%, at 1,751.40.

As Wall Street starts the last day of trading in May, the Dow is on track for a third straight monthly gain.