Wall Street took a step back Friday after a weaker-than-expected GDP reading injected fresh doubt into the “resilient growth” story investors had been leaning on. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 166 points, or 0.3%. The S&P 500 hovered near unchanged levels, while the Nasdaq Composite edged up 0.2%, supported by a 2% advance in Alphabet stock. US output in the fourth quarter expanded at an annualized 1.4% pace, well below forecasts for about 2.5%, with the government shutdown cited as a key drag through reduced federal outlays. The mood was cautious rather than panicked: traders weren’t pricing a recession, but they were marking down confidence in how smoothly the economy would carry into 2026. Weak GDP clouds the…
