Stocks flat as GDP growth falls below forecasts

NEW YORK (AP) — Major stock indexes were flat Wednesday after a report showed that the U.S. economy did not grow as fast as previously thought in the three months ending in September.

The Commerce Department said the country's gross domestic product rose at an annual rate of 2.6 percent in the July-to-September period, a small increase from its earlier estimate of 2.5 percent. Analysts expected the number to rise to 2.8 percent.

Separately, the National Association of Realtors said sales of previously-occupied homes rose 5.6 percent in November to an annual rate of 4.68 million. That was slightly below analysts' estimates of 4.75 million, according to data provided by FactSet.

"The home sales numbers are significantly off the highs that we saw in the go-go years earlier this decade, but 5 million home sales a year is good enough to keep prices from falling," said Paul Zemsky, the head of asset allocation at ING Investment Management.