Awwal 26, 1432, March 01, 2011, SPA -- U.S. stocks finished higher on Monday, with all three major indexes closing out February strong and posting their third consecutive month of gains. Overall, the three major indexes were up nearly 3 percent during the month, and have risen more than 5 percent since the beginning of the year. In U.S. economic news, the Commerce Department reported that consumer spending slowed in January from December, despite a sharp rise in income. The report showed that consumer spending rose 0.2 percent January-the weakest it has been since June. The U.S. dollar fell versus the euro and the yen. Light sweet crude oil for April delivery fell 91 cents to $96.97 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold futures rose 60 cents to $1,409.90 an ounce. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 95.89, or 0.8 percent, to 12,226.34. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 7.34, or 0.6 percent, to 1,327.22. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index rose 1.22, or 0.0 percent, to 2,782.27.
