Stocks Ended Sharply Higher, Down for Quarter

U.S. stocks surged on Friday to close out a sour quarter on a high note after Europe moved to bolster the economies of its more troubled nations.Up 3.9% for the month and off 2.5% for the quarter, the Dow industrials rose 277.83 points, or 2.20%, to 12,880.09. The S&P 500 added 33.12 points, or 2.49%, to 1,362.16, leaving it with a 4% June gain and down 3.3% for the quarter. The Nasdaq Composite rose 85.56 points, or 3.00%, to 2,935.05, up 3.8% for the month and down 5.1% for the quarter.

Consumer spending growth ground to a halt in May as auto purchases flagged, while confidence ebbed to a six-month low in June, the latest signs of trouble for the economy.Spending was unchanged in May, marking the first time in six months it had not risen, the Commerce Department said on Friday. It also lowered its gauge of April’s spending to show a rise of just 0.1 percent.The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan’s sentiment index fell to 73.2 in June from 79.3 in May, a separate report showed.

Oil surged on Friday in heavy trading to the fourth biggest daily gain on record. Brent crude oil futures rose more than $6 a barrel to near $98 while U.S. crude jumped by more than $7 to settle just below $85 a barrel.