The day’s trading continued the listless pattern that marked Wall Street’s performance throughout February. Strong, early gains were eroded by profit-taking on tech stocks, but the markets recovered somewhat by the afternoon.

"We saw some selling in semiconductors that took everything with it, but there’s no real reason behind it," said Larry Wachtel, market analyst at Wachovia Securities. "It’s a quirky kind of market."

Wachtel added that until economic data provides a stronger indication of the pace of the recovery, the wavering market will likely continue. The government’s jobs creation report expected March 5 could move the markets again, analysts said.

According to preliminary calculations, the Dow Jones industrial average gained 3.78, or 0.04 percent, to 10,583.92. The Dow ended the week 0.3 percent lower, its second straight weekly decline.

The broader gauges were narrowly mixed. The technology-focused Nasdaq composite index lost 2.75, or 0.1 percent, at 2,029.82, finishing the week 0.4 percent lower, the sixth straight down week for the index.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index was up 0.03, or 0 percent, at 1,144.94. It was up less than 0.1 percent higher for the week after last week’s loss.

For the month of February, the Nasdaq lost 1.8 percent. The Dow gained 0.9 percent and the S&P 500 climbed 1.2 percent. — the fifth straight monthly advance for both indexes.

February lived up to its reputation as the weakest month for the stock market. But in spite of widespread expectations that stocks could retreat during the month, there was still disappointment that Wall Street’s rally of the past year had gone into at least a temporary limbo.

Some of the declines for the month came from a letdown after a solid fourth-quarter earnings season. But there also was confusing economic data that deprived the market of guidance for the near future.

Today, traders were pleased by the Commerce Department’s report that the economy grew by an unexpected 4.1 percent annual rate in the last quarter of 2003. The government’s latest data on the gross domestic product — the broadest measure of the economy’s health — beat the 3.8 percent growth forecast by economists. GDP reflects the value of all goods and services produced within the United States.