Stocks are mixed in early trading. The Dow and S&P 500 are posting modest gains, while the Nasdaq is fractionally lower. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 26.87 points. The S&P 500 is higher by 4.82 points. The Nasdaq is down 1.35 points.
For the Dow and S&P 500, Friday's early advance is adding to recent gains. On Thursday, the market finished higher again, despite some disappointing economic news, with the major averages setting new multi-year closing highs.
Some key statistics about the consumer were released before the opening bell Friday.
The U.S. Commerce Department revealed that personal income increased 0.5 percent in March. This followed an upwardly revised 0.4 percent increase in February. Economists had been looking for a rise of around 0.3 percent.
Personal spending also rose during the month. The figure climbed by a 0.6 percent increase, also beating expectations.
Meanwhile, earnings season continues to roll on.
Construction equipment maker Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) reported a surge in its first-quarter profit. Earnings rose to $1.84 per share, topping the $1.31 per share that analysts were predicting. First-quarter sales and revenues came in at $12.949 billion, up 57 percent from last year.
First-quarter earnings at oil giant Chevron Corp. (CVX) climbed to $6.2 billion, or $3.09 per share, from $4.6 billion or $2.27 per share last year. On average, analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings per share of $3.04 for the quarter.
Research In Motion Ltd. (RIMM, RIM.TO), Thursday lowered its earnings forecast for the first quarter, anticipating weaker-than-expected shipment volumes of BlackBerry smartphones and a shift in the expected mix of devices shipped towards handsets with lower average selling prices.
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) said Thursday after the markets closed that its third quarter profit rose 31% from last year, driven by strong sales of Office 2010, Xbox and Kinect. However, revenue for the company's windows and windows live division fell for the second straight quarter, reflecting weak PC trend.
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