Dow Posts Second-Best Week of 2013

U.S. stocks rose on Friday, with the Dow industrials posting their best week since January, as investors weighed several economic reports before next week’s critical Fed meeting. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 75.42 points, or 0.49%, at 15,376.06. The S&P 500 Index gained 4.57 points, or 0.27%, to 1,687.99. The Nasdaq Composite rose 6.21 points, or 0.17%, to 3,722.18.

Americans boosted their spending at retail businesses by a modest 0.2 percent last month, the smallest gain in four months. Sales of autos and furniture jumped, while sales of clothes and sporting goods fell.

A plan to lower the cap on federally backed mortgages may hit home buyers particularly hard in several pockets of the country, new data shows.

United Airlines said on Friday that it will honor the tickets it accidentally gave away for free. The decision is good news for people who snapped up the tickets on Thursday after United listed airfares at $0.