At mid day on Friday the major market indexes were trending with mixed results.
Strong earnings continue to drive stocks higher but the Nasdaq continues to
fluctuate close above and below the breakeven point as Research in Motion, the
maker of the Blackberry, reported weak sales. Multiple reports were due out on
the economic calendar for today. The Commerce Department reported earlier that
both personal spending and income increased in March, exceeding economists
expectations. Personal spending rose by 0.6%, but was down from 0.7% in the
prior month. Personal income rose by 0.5%, increasing from 0.3% in the prior
month. Core PCE prices rose just 0.1% after a 0.2% increase in the prior month.
The Chicago PMI for April showed a reading of 67.6, which is down from 70.6 in
March and fell just short of economists anticipated reading of 68. The final
reading on Consumer Sentiment for April from the University of Michigan came in
at 69.8, just slightly above the preliminary reading of 69.6. Japans Nikkei is
closed today for holiday observance. The London Stock Exchange is also closed
today for the royal wedding. Approaching close the major market indexes are
trending in the green. The Dow gained 45.98 points or 0.36% to 12809.29. The
Nasdaq was up 0.38 points or 0.01% to 2872.97. The S&P 500 increased 2.98 points
or 0.22% to 1363.46. The Treasuries 10-year yield was flat at 3.31%. Oil rose
0.80 to $113.66 a barrel. The staggering price of crude oil has driven gas
prices up with an increase shown for the last 38 consecutive days. Consumer are
currently paying an average price reaching $3.90 a gallon nationwide with some
states topping the $4 mark, beating record highs of $4.114 a gallon. Gold
increased 16.80 to $1548 an ounce. Silver was flat at $47.52 an ounce. Author:
Pamela Frost
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