*

Weekly jobless claims edge up to 223,000

*

Accenture ( ACN ) falls after flagging federal contract

cancellations

*

Darden Restaurants ( DRI ) climbs after earnings, outlook

*

Indexes down: Dow 0.02%, S&P 500 0.2%, Nasdaq 0.32%

(Updates to mid-afternoon trading)

By Chuck Mikolajczak

NEW YORK, March 20 (Reuters) -

U.S. stocks seesawed between gains and losses in choppy

trading on Thursday, a day after rallying, 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 have gained 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. I don't

know how much of it really matters to the market, but 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," said Stephen Massocca, senior vice president at Wedbush

Securities in San Francisco.

"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."

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 7.01 points, or

0.02%, to 41,957.62, the S&P 500 lost 11.63 points, or

0.20%, to 5,663.66 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 55.97

points, or 0.32%, to 17,701.92.

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.

A separate report from the Conference Board said 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 (bps)

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 performer of the 11

major sectors while the energy sector 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 5% after the Olive Garden ( DRI ) owner gave a positive

outlook regarding the impact of tariffs on its business.

Accenture ( ACN ) shares tumbled nearly 8%, on track for

the biggest daily percentage drop in a year, after the

consultancy firm said the Trump administration's efforts to

reduce federal spending have led to delays and cancellations of

new contracts.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.35-to-1 ratio

on the NYSE and by a 1.5-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 posted 10 new 52-week highs and no new lows

while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 25 new highs and 86 new

lows.