Stocks Ended with Small Gains

U.S. stocks ended with small gains on Friday following generally positive consumer spending data. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 58.83 points, or 0.36%, at 16,323.06, posting 0.1% higher on the week. The S&P 500 was up 8.58 points, or 0.46%, at 1,857.62, and recorded a 0.5% loss for the week. The Nasdaq Composite added 4.53 points, or 0.11% at 4,155.76, down 2.8% for the week.

Consumer spending rose in February at the fastest rate since November as Americans spent more on services such as health care and utilities, but in a negative sign, purchases of big-ticket items such as new cars fell for the third straight month. Spending climbed 0.3% last month on a seasonally adjusted basis, the Commerce Department reported Friday. Personal income also rose 0.3% in February.

Separately, the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index dipped to 80.0 in March from 81.6 in February. It was little changed from a preliminary reading earlier this month.

Employment increased in 33 states last month and jobless rates fell in 29, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said Friday. Unemployment rates were below February’s 6.7% national average in 32 states. Rates rose in 10 states and held steady in 11 others and the District of Columbia.

BlackBerry reported declines in profit and revenue in its fourth quarter, but Chief Executive John Chen greeted the results with optimism. For the three months ended March 1, the smartphone maker reported a loss of $423 million, or 80 cents a share, compared with a profit of $98 million in the year-earlier quarter. Revenue was $976 million, down from $2.7 billion a year ago.

BMW is celebrating its 20th anniversary of building cars in the United States by investing $1 billion in its plant in South Carolina to build two of its new X-series vehicles at the facility that ushered in a wave of foreign automakers building Southern plants.