U.S. stocks finished higher on Friday, although all three major indexes are down about 3 percent for the month. In world markets, European stocks ended higher, led by the CAC 40 in France and the FTSE 100 in Britain both rising 1 percent. Asian markets ended mixed, with the Shanghai Composite falling 1 percent and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong rising 0.9 percent. In U.S. economic news, the Commerce Department said consumer spending rose 0.4 percent, reflecting an increase in the category that covers food and gasoline, areas which showed big price gains last month. Excluding price changes, spending rose a much smaller 0.1 percent. Incomes rose 0.4 percent but after-tax incomes adjusted for inflation were flat for a second straight month. Meanwhile, the U.S. National Association of Realtors Pending Home Sales Index dropped 11.6 percent to 81.9 in April, the lowest since September. Pending home sales lead existing home sales by a month or two. In U.S. Company news, Auction website eBay and its online payment unit PayPal are suing Google Incorporated and two executives for stealing trade secrets related to mobile payment systems. Shares of eBay and Google rose on Friday. The U.S. dollar fell versus the euro and versus the yen. Light sweet crude oil for July delivery rose 36 cents to $100.59 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold futures rose $13.50 to $1,536.30 an ounce. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 38.82, or 0.3 percent, to 12,441.58. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 5.41, or 0.4 percent, to 1,331.10. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index rose 13.94, or 0.5 percent, to 2,796.86.
