Stocks End Little Changed Awaiting Fed Confab Later This

U.S. stocks finished near even in light trading with mixed economic data offering little direction for traders ahead of widely anticipated remarks by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke later this week. Most industry sectors ended with slight gains, led by consumer stocks following better-than-expected earnings and improved guidance by several companies today. Energy stocks rallied late, bouncing off a drop near their break-even point to finish with moderate gains as crude oil rallied as now-Hurricane Issac chugged through the Gulf of Mexico, temporarily shutting down nearly all of the region's oil and gas production.

Bernanke is scheduled to address a conference of central bankers in Jackson Hole, Wyo., on Friday, with market participants waiting to see whether he will announce new stimulus measures to boost growth, including a third round of quantitative easing. The markets sagged slightly around mid-day after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said he would not attend the forum, citing his work load at home.

An unexpected drop in U.S. consumer confidence in August brought the Conference Board index to its lowest level in nine months, fueling hopes of traders angling for additional Fed easing. Retail data released today also was contradictory, with the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) - Goldman Same Stores Sales Index posting a week-over-week increase while Redbook data showed a decline.

Earlier today, Japan cut its projections for economic expansion, citing slowing demand for imports in the U.S. and China. But another report, the S&P/Case Shiller composite index of 20 metropolitan areas showed U.S. home prices rose for a fifth consecutive month.

In company news, Lexmark International (LXK) shares surged about 13% today after the printer company said it was curbing its inkjet printing and cutting 1,700 jobs as it turns its attention to more profitable imaging and software businesses.

Also today, PVH Corp raised its full-year earnings outlook for the third time this year as it expects its European business to grow and its flagship Tommy Hilfiger brand to remain popular with shoppers. PVH shares climbed about 5%.

H.J. Heinz (HNZ) rose after its CEO told the annual shareholder's meeting the packaged foods company expects to report "strong" Q1 results tomorrow, with per-share earnings seen rising 10% to $0.87 and 5% revenue growth. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters were expecting an $0.80 a share profit on $2.84 billion in sales, flat growth from year-ago levels.

Commodities were mixed. Crude oil for October delivery rose 77 cents to $96.31 a barrel while September natural gas settled 4 cents lower at $2.61 per 1 million BTU. December gold fell $5.90 to $1669.60 an ounce with September silver sliding 16 cents to $30.88 an ounce. September copper fell 2 cents to settle at $3.46 per pound.

Here's where the markets stood at end-of-day:

Dow Jones Industrial Average down 21.68 (-0.17%) to 13,102.99

S&P 500 down 1.14 (-0.08%) to 1,409.30

Nasdaq Composite Index up 3.95 (+0.13%) to 3,077.14

GLOBAL SENTIMENT

Hang Seng Index up 0.07%

Shanghai China Composite Index up 0.85%

FTSE 100 Index down 0.02%

UPSIDE MOVERS

(+) MPET, Stratex Oil & Gas offers to acquire the company for $2.30 per share in cash and stock, according to a Dow Jones Newswire report.

(+) SBX, Agrees to be acquired by Enstar Group (ESGR) for $11.11 a share. ESGR shares are little changed.

DOWNSIDE MOVERS

(-) BWS, Reports adjusted Q2 earnings of $0.16 per share, ex one-time items, beating the Capital IQ consensus by $0.13. Revenues were $599.3 million, trailing estimates by $8.05 million. Raised FY12 adjusted EPS guidance to $0.85 to $0.95, in-line with forecasts. Revenues also seen in-line.

(-) SNE, Exiting the PC optical drive market as part of restructuring efforts and focusing on businesses that are more responsive to current device trends for solid-state drives, CNet.com reports.