Last updated March 12, 2010: 1:00 PM ET --- The major U.S. equities are trading mixed Friday following mixed reports on retail sales and business inventories. The Commerce Department said retail sales rose 0.3% last month, and 0.8% excluding auto sales. The Commerce Department also reported that business inventories were unchanged. Economists had expected an increase. The preliminary Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment index for March fell to 72.5 from 73.6 in February. In corporate news, Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) online store crashed Friday morning as demand began pouring in for the much-anticipated iPad, which is available for preorder today. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) is trading 0.03% higher at 10,615.09, the S&P500 (INX) is trading 0.03% lower at 1,149.84, and the Nasdaq Composite (IXIC) is trading 0.06% lower at 2,367.13.