Stocks fluctuate as investors remain cautious

NEW YORK — Investors placed small bets on stocks Friday as they remained reluctant to get too enthusiastic about economic data.

Stocks fluctuated in early trading on more signs that the economy’s slide is slowing. The Labor Department said consumer prices in April were flat, as economists predicted. Excluding declining energy and food prices, core consumer prices edged up 0.3 percent, a bit higher than forecast.

New York-area manufacturing activity and industrial production contracted less than economists expected. They also shrank significantly less than they did earlier in the year, fitting a trend seen in most data since early March: that the economy continues to slide, but at a slower pace.

Investors are awaiting a midmorning report from the University of Michigan on consumer sentiment, as well as readings next week on the housing market. After European countries reported on Friday a massive 2.5 percent contraction in the first quarter, investors remain nervous about pushing stocks higher.

Wall Street’s huge spring rally has hit a lull. The government’s stress tests of banks are done, earnings reports are winding down and the first wave of April economic data has been released. Investors are growing concerned that perhaps they got too optimistic when they saw signs of the economy bottoming.

In the first hour of trading, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 8.05, or 0.1 percent, to 8,339.37. The broader Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 1.45, or 0.2 percent, to 891.62, and the Nasdaq composite index slipped 1.11, or 0.1 percent, to 1,688.10.