Investing.com - U.S. stocks finished Friday mixed to higher, driven by an investor appetite for risk stemming from better than expected consumer sentiment and personal spending data.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 0.50% on Friday, the S&P 500 index was up 0.37% while the Nasdaq Composite index finished down 0.12%.
In the U.S., the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index for March rose to 76.2, the highest in over a year and up from 75.3 in February, outpacing analysts' expectations.
The Commerce Department, meanwhile, reported that personal spending rose 0.8% in February, the most in seven months and above expectations for a 0.6% gain, although incomes rose only 0.2%, a little less than expected.
The data sparked demand for riskier but rewarding equities, as investors sold dollar positions to jump in on the session's buying spree.
News out of Europe sent equities up as well.
European finance ministers agreed to hike a combined lending ceiling for two rescue funds to EUR700 billion from EUR500 billion, a move that will help better contain the debt crisis.
Reports that Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy is planning to roll out the most austere budget since the country's return to democracy in 1978 also lifted spirits and fueled demand for equities.
Leading Dow Jones Industrial Average performers included Walt Disney, up 1.79%, Hewlett-Packard, up 1.36%, and Pfizer, up 1.07%.
Leading index losers included Alcoa, down 0.20%, Intel, down 0.14%, and American Express, down 0.05%.
European indices, meanwhile, were up.
After the close of European trade, the EURO STOXX 50 rose 1.00%, France's CAC 40 rose 1.26%, while Germany's DAX 30 finished up 1.04%. Meanwhile, in the U.K. the FTSE 100 closed up 0.46%.
On Monday in the U.S., the Institute of Supply Management will release its Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index, while the government will unveil data on construction spending.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 0.50% on Friday, the S&P 500 index was up 0.37% while the Nasdaq Composite index finished down 0.12%.
In the U.S., the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index for March rose to 76.2, the highest in over a year and up from 75.3 in February, outpacing analysts' expectations.
The Commerce Department, meanwhile, reported that personal spending rose 0.8% in February, the most in seven months and above expectations for a 0.6% gain, although incomes rose only 0.2%, a little less than expected.
The data sparked demand for riskier but rewarding equities, as investors sold dollar positions to jump in on the session's buying spree.
News out of Europe sent equities up as well.
European finance ministers agreed to hike a combined lending ceiling for two rescue funds to EUR700 billion from EUR500 billion, a move that will help better contain the debt crisis.
Reports that Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy is planning to roll out the most austere budget since the country's return to democracy in 1978 also lifted spirits and fueled demand for equities.
Leading Dow Jones Industrial Average performers included Walt Disney, up 1.79%, Hewlett-Packard, up 1.36%, and Pfizer, up 1.07%.
Leading index losers included Alcoa, down 0.20%, Intel, down 0.14%, and American Express, down 0.05%.
European indices, meanwhile, were up.
After the close of European trade, the EURO STOXX 50 rose 1.00%, France's CAC 40 rose 1.26%, while Germany's DAX 30 finished up 1.04%. Meanwhile, in the U.K. the FTSE 100 closed up 0.46%.
On Monday in the U.S., the Institute of Supply Management will release its Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index, while the government will unveil data on construction spending.