Stocks at a Standstill After Report on Consumer Spending
-- Wall Street closed out a winning week with a mixed performance Friday after the government reported that consumer spending rose in April to keep pace with rising costs.</br></br>The Dow Jones industrial average fell 7.90, or 0.06 percent, to 12,638.32. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index added 2.12, or 0.15 percent, to 1400.38, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 14.34, or 0.57 percent, to 2522.66.</br></br>For the week, the Dow rose 1.27 percent, the S&P 500 gained 1.78 percent, and the Nasdaq picked up 3.19 percent.</br></br>Investors who sent stocks higher for three straight sessions turned cautious after the Commerce Department said personal spending rose 0.2 percent and personal income rose 0.2 percent last month. The department also said prices at the personal-spending level, after stripping out food and energy costs, ticked up 0.1 percent in April.</br></br>The readings were in line with the market's expectations and supported the notion that high commodities costs are not yet causing a sharp pullback in spending or lifting prices for other goods. Meanwhile, the technology sector got a lift after the computer maker Dell and the chipmaker Marvell Technology Group posted stronger-than-expected quarterly results.