Awwal 05, 1432, April 09, 2011, SPA -- U.S. stocks fell moderately on Friday. In world markets, Asian stocks finished higher, with Japan's Nikkei index rising 1.9 percent. European stocks rose modestly, led by the British FTSE 100 and the French CAC-40 both rising 0.8 percent. In U.S. economic news, the Commerce Department said wholesale inventories rose 1 percent in February to $438 billion, reaching the highest level since December 2008. In U.S company news, Seagate Technology shares surged nearly 8 percent, after the company said late Thursday it will begin paying a dividend for the first time. The U.S. dollar fell versus the euro and rose versus the yen. Light sweet crude oil for May delivery rose $2.49 to $112.79 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold futures rose $14.80 to a record high of $1,474.10 an ounce. Silver surpassed a 31-year high of $39.71 an ounce. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 29.44, or 0.2 percent, to 12,380.05. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 5.34, or 0.4 percent, to 1,328.17. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index fell 15.72, or 0.6 percent, to 2,780.42.
