(Reuters) - U. S. stocks were little changed in late morning trading on Friday, following six<br />straight days of gains, as investors took a breather ahead of a three-day holiday weekend.<br />A strong batch of earnings reports from retailers drove the S&P 500<br />and the Nasdaq Composite to a record close on Thursday, putting all three major indexes on track to post their strongest weekly gains since the end of April.<br />The six-day winning streak is the market’s longest since February<br />and investors may look to cash in on their gains ahead of the long weekend due to Monday’s Memorial Day holiday.<br />Emily Roland said that U. S. markets are generally flat this morning as we see a stronger<br />revision to the first-quarter GDP data and better-than-expected durable goods orders,<br />Earlier in the day, a report showed that the U. S. economy grew at a 1.2 percent pace<br />in the first quarter, slightly more than the 0.7 percent growth estimated earlier.<br />Consumer stocks had another strong day, with the consumer staples index rising 0.23 percent and topping the list of gainers.
