*

Weekly jobless claims edge up to 223,000

*

Accenture ( ACN ) falls after flagging federal contract

cancellations

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Darden Restaurants ( DRI ) climbs after earnings, outlook

(Updates to market close)

By Chuck Mikolajczak

NEW YORK, March 20 (Reuters) -

U.S. stocks closed slightly lower on Thursday after veering

between gains and losses as investors gauged the latest round of

economic data and the Federal Reserve's policy statement against

tariff concerns.

Selling pressure has intensified in recent weeks after a

string of economic indicators signaled the economy and consumer

sentiment may be cooling as the Trump administration imposes

reciprocal trade tariffs.

Still, equities rose in three of the prior four

sessions, with the benchmark S&P index rallying more than 1% on

Wednesday after the Fed kept interest

rates unchanged

, as widely expected, and indicated two quarter-point

interest-rate cuts were likely later this year, the same median

forecast as three months ago.

The central bank also said it sees slower economic

growth and at least temporarily higher inflation.

"It is very volatile. The news is very volatile," said

Stephen Massocca, senior vice president at Wedbush Securities in

San Francisco. "The market's pretty focused on it and a lot of

it's going to depend on how certain news items play out over the

next couple of weeks."

"We're putting a bottom in here, but when I survey the

near-term news flow, I don't have a lot of hope that we're going

to suddenly leap out of this," he added.

According to preliminary data, the S&P 500

lost 12.65 points, or 0.22%, to end at 5,662.64 points,

while the Nasdaq Composite lost 59.16 points, or 0.35%,

to 17,688.78. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 11.31

points, or 0.03%, to 41,953.32.

Economic data on Thursday showed weekly initial jobless

claims increased slightly last week, although the outlook may be

dimming due to government spending cuts, interest rate levels

and policy uncertainty.

The Conference Board reported that a measure of future

economic activity fell 0.3% in February after easing 0.2% in

January.

Market participants are pricing in 63 basis points of

cuts from the Fed this year, with 71% odds for a cut of at least

25 basis points at the June meeting, according to LSEG data.

Technology was the weakest of the 11 major sectors

while energy advanced as crude prices rose nearly 2%

after the United States issued new Iran-related sanctions.

Company profit prospects have been dimming recently due

to the uncertain tariff outlook, but Darden Restaurants ( DRI )

shares jumped after the Olive Garden ( DRI ) owner gave a positive

outlook regarding the impact of tariffs on its business.

Accenture ( ACN ) shares tumbled after the consultancy

firm said the Trump administration's efforts to reduce federal

spending have led to delays and cancellations of new contracts.