Wall Street: Weds mid-session

WALL Street stocks were little changed in quiet trading despite a surge in the shares of

Investors seemed reluctant to make major commitments amid growing uncertainty over high stock valuations, and the major market guages were stuck in a tight trading band, as they have been for several weeks.

At midday, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 22.29, or 0.2% to 10,434.67 and the Nasdaq composite index was down 0.96, essentially flat at 1,994.20.

Dow component Procter & Gamble jumped $4.34 to $106.83 after it raised its earnings forecast for the quarter and the year. The company also approved a 2-for-1 stock split and raised its annual dividend.

On the Nasdaq, Sun Microsystems edged up 16 cents at $4.49, rebounding from steep declines following downgrades from several brokerage firms. Analysts have questioned the long-term outlook for the computer-systems maker's Unix business.

EchoStar Communications was up 40 cents at $34.68 after saying it was working to resolve the fees dispute with Viacom that has darkened several channels for its 9 million satellite TV customers.

DISH Network owner EchoStar pulled the plug on CBS programs and Viacom's cable channels - including MTV, and Nickelodeon - in more than a dozen cities this week. Viacom was down 53 cents at $38.69.

The Commerce Department reported that the trade deficit swelled in January to a record $43bn, as the value of imported goods and services eclipsed the value of US exports. The trade gap was 0.9 percent larger than the $42.7bn deficit registered in December.

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