U.S. stocks closed modestly lower Friday on the last trading day of February, although they ended the month 5 percent or higher. The dollar traded higher against major world currencies. Light sweet crude oil for April delivery added 3.3 percent to $49.76 a barrel, for the first monthly gain since June, on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold futures settled up at $1,213.10, but posted a 5 percent decline for February. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 82.04, or 0.45 percent, to 18,132.38. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index dropped 6.26, or 0.30 percent, to 2,104.48. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index fell 24.36, or 0.49 percent, to 4,963.53.
