U.S. stocks traded lower Friday morning as the latest economic data showed the economy is growing faster than anticipated, which could postpone a possible interest cut by the Federal Reserve.

New orders for manufactured durable goods in December increased 3.1 percent to 221.9 billion dollars, the strongest gain since September, the Commerce Department reported on Friday.

The Commerce Department also said new home sales rose 4.8 in December, well above economist projections and a sign that the slumping housing market might have bottomed out.

As of 12:00 p.m., the Dow Jones industrial average fell 52.95 to 12,449.91.

Broader stock indicators also slipped. The Standard & Poor's 500 index was down 4.11 at 1,419.79, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 2.6 to 2,431.64.

Source: Xinhua