NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Investors bracing for another round of economic data avoided big commitments to U.S. stocks Thursday as the major indexes ended little changed and trading volume slowed.

Numbers on consumer confidence, inflation, and industrial activity come rapid-fire early Friday, a session that also brings the quarterly expiration of options on stocks, stock indexes, and stock index futures.

"There's a lot of things that could go flash in the night," Art Cashin, head NYSE trader at UBS Warburg, told CNNfn's Halftime Report.

The Nasdaq composite index fell 7.89 points, or 0.4 percent, to 1,854.14, its fourth straight decline. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 15.29, or 0.15 percent, to 10,517.14, for its fourth gain in five sessions. The Standard & Poor's 500 index slipped 1.05, or 0.1 percent, to 1,153.04.

New economic data showed that businesses rebuilt inventories for the first time in a year in January, as stores and auto dealers stocked up to meet growing demand

Separately, the government said the number of Americans filing first-time jobless claims fell by 3,000 to 377,000 last week, in another sign the steepest layoffs that followed the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks have passed.

"This morning's numbers, that's old news," Phil Flynn, of Alaron.com, told CNNfn's Market Call. He said Friday's data on wholesale inflation may be more important.

February producer prices, due before the market opens, are expected to show a 0.2 percent gain, according to the consensus estimate of analysts surveyed by Briefing.com. Industrial production and capacity utilization are forecast to have improved last month. That's also the case with the University of Michigan's early March reading on consumer sentiment.

More stocks rose than fell Thursday. On the New York Stock Exchange, advancing issues topped declining ones 9-to-7 as nearly 1.2 billion shares traded. Nasdaq winners edged losers 5-to-4 as 1.4 billion shares traded.

In other markets, Treasury securities fell along with the dollar, which slipped against the yen and euro.

The Dow's biggest gainer, Eastman Kodak (EK: up $1.35 to $32.35, Research, Estimates), said it's comfortable meeting quarterly and full-year profit targets, forecasting first-quarter earnings per share as high as 15 cents and 2002 income of as much as $2.60 per share

Caterpillar (CAT: up $1.17 to $58.66, Research, Estimates), another Dow winner, rallied after A.G. Edwards upgraded the heavy equipment maker to "strong buy" from "hold."

And International Paper (IP: up $0.95 to $44.27, Research, Estimates) rebounded from big losses Wednesday, when Prudential Financial advised investors to sell IP shares. But losses in Merck (MRK: down $0.93 to $63.44, Research, Estimates) and Boeing (BA: down $1.61 to $47.61, Research, Estimates) kept the Dow from bigger gains.

After the closing bell, business software maker Oracle (ORCL: down $0.45 to $13.44, Research, Estimates) is expected to post a decline in fiscal third-quarter profit to 9 cents a share from 10 cents a year earlier. The software maker cut forecasts earlier this month, blaming slow sales in Asia.

In the latest disappointments, executive recruiter Korn/Ferry International (KFY: down $0.73 to $8.60, Research, Estimates) said it expects current-quarter losses to widen beyond expectations, while catalog retailer Lands' End (LE: down $7.70 to $46.99, Research, Estimates) warned full-year earnings would miss analysts' expectations.

With the March quarter winding to a close, companies have been warning about results. Lucent Technologies (LU: down $0.09 to $4.83, Research, Estimates), Nokia (NOK: up $0.07 to $21.96, Research, Estimates) and Comverse Technology (CMVT: up $0.99 to $14.13, Research, Estimates) all cut forecasts in recent days.

"We are at the point where the economy's improving but company earnings have not yet improved," John Forelli, portfolio manager at John Hancock Funds, told CNNfn's Before Hours. "We are probably not going to hear good things from companies until the second half."

Among companies reporting results Thursday, Toys "R" Us (TOY: down $1.38 to $18.93, Research, Estimates) posted improved fourth-quarter earnings that topped expectations, but the largest toy retailer said it would sell new debt and common stock.

H.J. Heinz (HNZ: up $0.73 to $41.27, Research, Estimates) said fiscal third-quarter net income fell to $201.7 million, or 57 cents a share, in line with the consensus analyst estimate from earnings tracker First Call.

Shares of Asbury Automotive Group (ABG: up $0.30 to $16.80, Research, Estimates) rose in their first day of trading after the auto retailer priced 7.7 million shares at $16.50.

Mike Murphy, head of equity trading at Wachovia Securities, said the market, which is putting in distance from the worst of the Enron-related accounting worries, has remained in decent shape despite rising Mideast violence.

"We've seen a steady stream of buy interest out there," Murphy said.

In a sign of interest in blue chips, the Dow Thursday widened its year-to-date gain to 5 percent. But in a seemingly synchronized way, money has fled technology stocks; Nasdaq's 2002 loss widened to 5 percent.