Stocks posted modest gains Friday, as strong profits from Caterpillar lifted the Dow industrials but technology shares remained under pressure following a lowered outlook from BlackBerry maker Research in Motion (RIM). For the month of April, both the Dow and the technology-heavy Nasdaq rose more than 4 percent, while the broader Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 3.3 percent. Investors remain nervous about the U.S. economy and inflation. The Federal Reserve (Fed) has been clear that interest rates are unlikely to change this year, while gold and silver continue to reach new highs as the U.S. dollar keeps sliding. The U.S. dollar fell versus the yen and dropped to a three-year low versus the euro. Light sweet crude oil for June delivery rose 84 cents to $113.71 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold futures rose to a new record high of $1,569.80 an ounce. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 61.19, or 0.5 percent, to 12,824.50. Shares of Caterpillar helped the index after the heavy-machinery company benefitted from strong demand for its mining and agricultural equipment. Its shares rose 2.5 percent. The S&P 500 index rose 3.13, or 0.2 percent, to 1,363.61. The Nasdaq composite index was little changed, rising 1.01 to 2,873.54. Gains were limited by shares of RIM, which plunged 14 percent after the BlackBerry maker warned of weaker sales. Microsoft reported a strong gain in quarterly profit, but said its notebook-computer sales fell 40 percent. Shares of the world's biggest software company fell 4 percent, its worst one-day performance since 2009.
