reduction plan and denounced Republican plans for massive spending cuts as threatening American society. "The debate about budgets and deficits is about more than just numbers on a page, more than just cutting and spending," Obama said in Washington. "It's about the kind of future we want, it's about the kind of country we believe in." In U.S. company news, J.P. Morgan Chase & Company reported a 67 percent increase in first-quarter profit, surpassing Wall Street expectations, as it set aside less money to cover bad loans. J.P. Morgan profit rose to $5.56 billion in the first quarter from $3.33 billion in the same quarter last year. The U.S. dollar fell versus the euro and rose versus the yen. Light sweet crude oil for May delivery rose 86 cents to $107.11 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold futures rose $2.00 to $1,455.60 an ounce. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 7.41, or 0.1 percent, to 12,270.99. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 0.25, or 0.02 percent, to 1,314.41. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index rose 16.73, or 0.6 percent, to 2,761.52.
